What can I do if there are taxes incorrectly withheld from my royalty income?
Last updated on February 05, 2026
There is withholding tax deducted from royalties paid to Spanish residents. The standard withholding tax rate for royalties in Spain is 19%.
You are a non-Spanish resident
Payments related to royalties are subject to Spanish Withholding Tax. The current rate according to Spanish laws is:
- 19% if you or your company is a non-Spain resident within the EU
or - 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.
- Send the scanned copy to [email protected].
- 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
Please note that if we do not receive the soft and physical copy of your exemption form, payments will be made with the appropriate Spanish withholding tax applied. This is an annual process. The Residency Certification will need to be renewed each year per the validation date of the certificate.
If you have additional questions regarding your withholding tax status and completion of the forms, we recommend that you contact your tax advisor.
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.
- 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.
If you have additional questions regarding completion of the W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E Forms, we recommend that you contact your tax advisor. Elsevier will not provide any tax advice since this is a personal tax matter.
- Form W-8BEN (to be completed by individual payees)
- Form W-8BEN-E (to be completed by companies/ entities suppliers)
Important Note: The W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E forms are generally valid from the date signed to the end of the third succeeding calendar year.
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.
You should receive 1042-S Form that reports any withholding tax withheld and paid to the US government. You should provide this form to your tax advisor for use in preparing your income tax returns.
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.
Elsevier Masson - Instructing for Form 5000 and Form 5003Please send the scanned copy of the completed forms to [email protected].
Further, please note that this is an annual process. The forms must be renewed every year.
Please note that we are not obligated to provide you a documentation when tax is withheld. You can refer to:
- Remittance Advice Email that should have been sent to you from “[email protected]”. This contains the gross amount, discounts or withholding tax (if there are any) and the net payment amount. Please check your spam/junk folder for this email. If you did not receive it, please contact [email protected].
- Royalties Statement. For book royalty questions, please reach out to email [email protected] or [email protected] for Elsevier GmbH (Germany).
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