We’ve been listening to your woes with Paypal and we’re changing the payment policy so that we can help you to keep some of your money!

Constant-content.com will start offering to do wire transfers for any writers who are owed $500 or more each time we do payments.

There has been some discussion about how much money people end up paying to Paypal to receive Constant Content payments and I wanted to try and clear the air a little.  A personal Paypal accounts is allowed to receives up to $500 USD per month without any fees being applied to the incoming money.  However, if you receive more than $500 in a month you will be asked/forced to move up to a business or premier account.

Once you have a business or premier account Paypal takes 3-5% + $0.30 USD per transaction on any incoming money.

With Paypal sending money is always free.  Unfortunately, wiring money around the world is not free.  As a consequence, for wire transfers we have to charge $15 to each author receiving a wire transfer payment (Hey at least, its cheaper than Paypal).  Paypal’s business and premier account rates it already costs $15 to receive $500 so the wire transfers should put more money into the writer pockets.

If you are above the $500 mark at the end of the month we will be in touch to get your banking details so we can do the wire.

If you prefer to have your money sent via Paypal we are still happy to send money to your Paypal account.

Hopefully, this will be a good change that keeps your money where it belongs… in your pocket.

Many authors at Constant Content ask how they should go about reporting earnings come tax time. Because Constant Content uses PayPal, authors can easily use the “history” feature with their PayPal account to identify payments made to them over the course of the year. Use this amount to report your freelance earnings from Constant Content. (Note: Constant Content does not report authors’ income to the IRS. This is the responsibility of each individual author, just like sellers on eBay are responsible for reporting the income they make from online auctions.)

Authors on Constant Content go about organizing their Constant Content freelance income and IRS payments in different ways, and some of the more experienced ones can offer advice in the forums (if you ask them nicely after checking to see if your question has already been answered elsewhere). However, if you’re really concerned about making the right payment amount, it’s best to take your information to a tax professional who can explain to you what you owe according to your employment status, freelance income, and relevant deductions.

In the end, hiring a professional may cost you less than filing by yourself through electronic tax programs (these can be expensive, confusing, and can induce hyperventilation). Plus, if you suffer from discalculia, anxiety, starving artist syndrome, audit-phobia, or some other disorder, you’ll be better off having someone walk you through the process, explain the steps taken, and suggest potential deductions you can make as a writer.