Hi everyone,
I’m posting this as a pro seller because this issue has now gone on for over 5 months, and it appears to be systemic rather than a simple form correction.
Since October 2025, my payouts have been repeatedly cancelled due to W-8BEN “paragraph reference” issues — despite:
• Using the same treaty citation previously accepted in 2022
• Updating the citation to a more granular paragraph when asked
• Providing full explanation that creator payouts are royalties from licensed copyrighted artwork
• Receiving written confirmation that my form was processed and my account updated
• Then receiving contradictory emails asking to revise the same paragraph again
What is particularly concerning:
• Zazzle previously accepted these payments as royalties.
• Now the same classification is being rejected.
• No one will state what type of income Zazzle is now internally classifying creator payouts as.
• No one will specify which exact Article/paragraph is considered valid.
• The responses completely ignore the detailed explanations provided and revert to template replies.
In my case, the same W-8 reviewer (Eion) rejected both the second-last and last submissions without clarifying what specific paragraph is required.
We are repeatedly told to “revise paragraph reference,” but never told what the correct one is.
This raises serious concerns about:
• Internal consistency
• Communication between compliance and support
• Indefinite withholding of earned creator funds
If this thread receives a standard template reply from support asking to “refer to IRS instructions,” that would only reinforce the issue.
My questions to the community and to Zazzle:
How are creator payouts currently classified for treaty purposes?
Why were previously accepted royalty classifications later rejected without explanation?
What remedy exists when payments are withheld for months due to internal inconsistencies?
If other international creators are experiencing similar repeated rejections or payout cancellations, please share your experience here.
We need clarity and a transparent resolution process.
In my case (royalty earnings from licensing artwork), the wording that was accepted in Part II, Line 10 was:
“Royalties from copyrights on my (beneficial owner’s) artistic works.”
Along with the relevant Article and paragraph for royalties under my country’s treaty, e.g. 12(2)
You may want to check your country’s tax treaty with the US (often Article 12 covers royalties) and confirm the specific paragraph that applies to copyright royalties.
It helped me to align the wording clearly with “royalties” rather than services. So, type of income is one word: Royalties; I have mentioned the additional conditions statement above.
Please note this is not a legal advice, just what worked in my case.
I don’t really understand why zazzle make it so difficult. It also took me many months to renew mine. Other companies like Spoonflower and Amazon are automated and it’s completed in 5 minutes.
i am having same issue, can you help to check if zazzle received my updated form? (Sent 25 march 2026) As i did not receive confirmation email. I know resending multiple times will only reject this process.
I have exactly the same issue, I have filled out the W-8BEN repeatedly and the customer service team have stopped replying to my emails, I resent the refilled out form to the Zazzle W8 team and have heard nothing back and my earnings have been frozen during this time.
I haven’t heard back for a month now, I hope the form was accepted but it would be just awesome to learn if it was. Wondering if someone can help me with that that would’ve been great.
Waited 6 weeks after submitting my form and included Article 12 Paragraph 2 and this was rejected:
"Please revise the Article and Paragraph reference in Part II, line 10. This IRS document will help you find the appropriate Treaty Article Citation
The IRS treaty table might as well be written in Greek for all the help it is. Has something changed in the treaties between USA and Australia? Not from the research that I did.
Is it because it has to be written in a specific way, e.g. 12/2 OR 12(2) or Article 12 paragraph 2 OR something else? Why make this so difficult? If it has to be written in a specific way, then tell us what we’re doing wrong so we can correct it. We’re not psychic.
