ITIN pentru contribuitorii romani ai Shutterstock

Iata cum se poate obtine ITIN:

1. Realizati o copie legalizata a pasaportului.
2. Aplicati apostila pe copie la tribunalul pe raza caruia aveti domiciliul.
3. Tipariti emailul primit de la Shutterstock, prin care sunteti anuntati ca trebuie sa platiti impozit catre guvernul SUA
   
4. Descarcati formuarul W7
5. Completati-l cu mare grija astfel:
   

• La Reason you are submitting alegeti a si h .
• Deasupra punctelor de la h scrieti fara ghilimele: "Exception 1d - Third party witholding tax on passive income royalties (royalties on photographic sales)"
• Sub h, la Additional information for a and f: Enter treaty country>Romania si and treaty article number>12(2)
• Completati numele, adresa postala(la aceasta adresa vi se vor returna documentele originale si notificarea scrisa ITIN), data nasterii
  
• Persoanele care si-au schimbat numele, trebuie sa completeze la 1b, numele din certificatul de nastere.
  
• La 6a treceti ROMANIA
• La 6b, 6c, 6f si 6g scrieti N/A. Atentie!!! Sa nu scrieti NA in loc de N/A. Se anuleaza formularul.
• La 6d bifati documentele pe care le trimiteti o data cu formularul.
• In caseta de semnatura Sign Here: semntai, treceti data si un numar de telefon

Puneti toate documentele(formularul W7, pasaportul - original sau copie) intr-un plic si expediati-l pe adresa:

Internal Revenue Service
Austin Service Center
ITIN Operation
P.O. Box 149342
Austin, TX 78714-9342

Documente care pot inlocui pasaportul sau copia acestuia:

- certificat de nastere
- permis de conducere
- livret militar(nu va recomand)
- carte de identitate
- carte de alegator
Daca nu trimiteti pasaportul sau copia acestuia, trebuie sa trimiteti doua din documentele mentionate mai sus, fie in original(nu recomand), fie in copie legalizata la notariat si apostilata la tribunalul pe raza caruia aveti domiciliul. Documentele trebuie sa fie valabile, sa faca dovada identitatii(sa contina numele dumneavoastra) si sa vina in sprijinul afirmatiei ca sunteti cetatean strain(ne american). Documentele cu fata dubla trebuie sa aiba copii ale ambelor fete incluse. Cel putin unul din documente trebuie sa contina fotografia dumneavoastra.



Cei care trimit documente originale nu trebuie sa trimita si plic autoadresat, deoarce IRS returneaza documentele originale(nu si copiile legalizate) in plicuri proprii.

Procedura poate dura si 18 luni!!! Va doresc succes!

Doamne ajuta!
Cu sinceritate,
Regele IONESCU

Shutterstock is Imposing 30% Withold on non-US contributors

Shutterstock went mad and started to ask non-US contributors to fill in with IRS in else they will be withold 30% of their income. Obtaining ITIN number costs around 600 USD and it takes at least four months. Not to mention that this is only IF your papers are correct.

Many submitters are determined to close their SS accounts as SS is the only agency imposing this tax withold.

Romanian contributors are even more humiliated: they have a 90 days delay on payments they get from SS, just because they are from Romania.

More, the treaty signed both by the Romanian Government and the US government clearly states that

Royalties derived by a resident of one of the Contracting States from sources within the other Contracting State shall not be taxed by the other Contracting State at a rate in excess of 10 percent of the gross amount of cultural royalties(art 12)

Similar is for other treaties.

Download Romania-USA treaty from HERE. Other countries treaties HERE

The fact is that the tax SS is reffering to is related only to sales made to US customers. SS is not providing a differentiated.

Submitters already opened an ONLINE PETITION.

My feeling is that SS has a big financial problem and is trying to sort it out on the back of submitters. They might be on the verge of bankruptcy or IRS caught them with something bad?

I just have been banned from posting on SS forums!!! Perhaps because I signed the petition.

I found out later that even private messages sent between SS members are censored!!!

How Many Sensors are in a Sony camera?

Searching to buy a new camera, I did a lot of research, I browsed thousands of web pages in a very short time. I focused primarily on Canon XH A1s and Sony's FX1000, Z5 and Z7. I discovered amazing things:

1. Canon's sensor(1.67 million pixels) is about 30% bigger than Sony's (1.12 million) as measured in pixels.
   
2. Canon's sensor has 1440x1080 recording pixels while Sony's has only 1440x810
   
3. I doubt that above mentioned Sony cameras have three different CMOS sensors. The Sony manual of the cameras says: "6mm (1/3 type) 3CMOS sensor". Beware of the singular form of noun sensor. 3CMOS, as spelled in manual, could mean anything but not necessarily three CMOS sensors. More: 810 pixels height it means the sensor is wider thus has a smaller area for a given length of diagonal.
   
4. Canon manual clearly states 1/3 inch CCD x 3.
   

What mostly amazes me is that no single producer publishes the real absolute sensor size nor clearly states how many sensors are in it. Take a big look to what you wanna buy and read as much as you can before you pay.

New Video Camera

Time has come to get rid of my old D8 Sony TRV 420E and buy a brand new camera. After much, much, much internet research I come to the conclusion that the best my money can buy is a Canon XH A1s.

The reasons are:

1. Superb picture quality
   
2. It is a true 3 x CCD camera and there are no rolling shutter issues
3. Greatest CCDs in its class: 1,670,000 pixels each one.
4. Minimum illumination is only 0.3 lux.
5. Amazing lens
   
6. It has full manual adjustments.
7. It suits my needs and my buget: I intend to use it mainly for stock shootings.

As soon as I get my hands on I will let you know.