There is withholding tax deducted from royalties paid to Spanish residents. The standard withholding tax rate for royalties in Spain is 19%.

Payments related to royalties are subject to Spanish Withholding Tax. The current rate according to Spanish laws is:

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  19% if you or your company is a non-Spain resident within the EU
  or
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  24% if you or your company is a non-Spain resident outside the EU.

To apply a reduced rate or 0% deduction from your payment, we ask you to send a Residency Certification from your country. Please send before you issue Elsevier an invoice to be paid. The certificate of residency must be duly signed with a stamp by the relevant tax authority.

Both a soft copy and the original document is required.

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  Send the scanned copy to [email protected].
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  Send the original document to the following address:
  ELSEVIER ESPAÑA SLU
  Attn: Esther Vila
  Edificio Tarragona
  Calle de Tarragona 161, Planta 15.
  08014 Barcelona
  Spain

As long as we have your Form W9 with tax identification (ID) number before payment, no taxes should be withheld. If it is not provided, we are required to withhold 24%, regardless of amount. 

We generally do not withhold and deposit tax on non-employee payments unless required to hold the 24% backup withholding since it requires additional administration, reconciliation and reporting and adhering to deposit timelines.

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  Download: Form W-9 (irs.gov)

Please send the completed scanned copy of your form directly to [email protected].

All suppliers and payees who are receiving payments from Elsevier Inc operating unit (USA) are required to provide a United States IRS Tax form (Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). Forms W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E are used in the United States taxation system by foreign persons (including corporations) to certify that they are not citizens or residents of the United States for tax purposes.

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  Form W-8BEN (to be completed by individual payees)

  • ●

    Download Form W-8 BEN (Rev. October 2021) (irs.gov)
  • ●

    Instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021) (irs.gov)


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  Form W-8BEN-E (to be completed by companies/ entities suppliers)

  • ●

    Download Form W-8BEN-E (Rev. October 2021) (irs.gov)
  • ●

    Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E (Rev. October 2021) (irs.gov)

If you are receiving royalties /or physically sitting in the US performing the service, you may claim certain benefits under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement  between your country of residence and the US, which may reduce or eliminate non-resident withholding tax on specific types of income.  You may claim eligible benefits by providing us with your Tax Identification number issued by your country of residence on a properly executed Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E to certify your tax residence outside the US.

If you are not receiving royalties and/or not physically present in the US performing the service, you can tick mark line 6b (for Form W8BEN) or line 9c (for Form W8BEN-E).

Upon completion of the above forms, please send the scanned copies directly to for security reasons: [email protected]

Failure to comply may subject the income payment to 30% withholding tax.

Elsevier is required to withhold social contributions from artist-authors who receive royalties (droits d’auteur).

If you are not receiving royalties (droits d’auteur), social contributions are not appliable.

A withholding tax certificate (certification de précompte) will be issued every end of quarter to the artist-authors whose contributions have been deducted. You can also request for a digital copy of the certificate by sending an email “I authorize you to send my certificate via email” to [email protected].

Generally, your royalty income is subject to 25% withholding tax since you do not have a permanent professional installation in France, except if a tax treaty exists between France and your country of residence.

France has concluded tax treaties with many countries, which reduce or eliminate double taxatio In order to benefit from the tax treaty rate (which may be nil) you must provide us with Form No. 5000 (this needs to be certified by your country of residence for tax purposes) and Form No. 5003 (required annex in the case of royalty income). These is required  to document to the French tax administration the rate of withholding tax applied, or the exemption from withholding tax, if applicable. Please reach out to your tax advisor to determine if you are entitled to tax treaty benefits.

Please send the scanned copy of the completed forms to [email protected].