paying affiliate commisions

affiliate programme commission

[jakob77]

I dont know a lot about taxes and the like, but in general what happens if someone buy something for 100 dollars on your website and you need to pay 10 dollars to an affiliate.

Is that the same as if you are with a merchant that gives you 90 dollars and deals with the affiliate stuff himself?

On the one hand it would be 100 dollars of income and 10 dollars of expenses, in the other case it would be just 90 dollars of income.

Could you save taxes by not dealing with the affilates yourself?

[TallTroll]

I'm not a tax expert either, but I do know that every tax authority on earth will take a very dim view of any breach of the reporting rules. In general, most tax authorities should be OK with you offsetting legitimate business costs, such as affiliate payments, against revenues for the purposes of determining your tax liabilities, so long as your reported figures are a true and fair representation of your commercial activities. For a definitive opinion, contact your local tax office. I'm sure they will be delighted to hear from someone who wants to sort out their tax affairs WITHOUT a costly investigation ;)

[oilman]

Generally speaking you would book the $100 as revenue then deduct expenses such as commissions, salaries etc. You do have to book the full $100 - that is what your company took in.

That said I'm not a tax expert - consult a certified accountant or your local tax office.