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Associated Content's new policy

Well, Associated Content has just made it public, as of 29th April, that they will stop paying non-US residents from 1st May onwards. Unless... well, I'll come to that later.

Apparently,the decision behind this is due to the implementation of new tax laws that affect companies making payments to non-US taxpayers.

Of course, no matter whether they actually had any leeway in the matter, there's still going to be irate writers who are not going to be happy about it.

And in case you haven't realised what the dates actually mean. Associated Content are only telling people about it two days in advance.

Make that lots of irate ex-writers.

Anyway, as I was saying, they do offer a way out. First you'll have to apply as a Featured Contributor for Associated Content under one of the various categories (sports, travel etc) which involves filling out an application form with questions like "How do you stay current in this field? What blogs, websites, periodicals, etc. do you read on a regular basis?" In short, it's not one of those application forms needing just your details, but one of those that'll take considerably longer to fill up.

Then assuming you get accepted as a Featured Contributor for Associated Content, you'll have to submit a United States W-8BEN tax form, have to publish in your category at least once a month, and be able to withdraw only when your earnings at Associated Content reaches USD$100.

Now, that's a lot of hoops to jump through. And for those of you who don't know this, international members are not eligible for upfront payments on Associated Content, so to be precise, that's a lot of hoops to jump through to be able to earn 0.15 to 0.2 cents for every person that reads your article on Associated Content.

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