Your distribution questions answered

Why haven’t I been paid?

Payments aren’t guaranteed and if you haven’t yet received an email from us about your statement, you haven’t been paid this time. We receive different income streams from various sources throughout the year, so it’s possible you may receive a payment in our September distribution instead. Make sure your account is up to date with your works and bank account details and check again at the time of the next distribution in September.

Payments to international bank accounts take a little longer to arrive. The amount of time taken depends on a number of factors, including location, so if you don’t have a UK bank account and are waiting to receive a payment, please allow more time.

Are my payments taxed?

If you are tax resident in the UK, we don’t deduct income tax from your payments. This means you should declare any payments you receive from ALCS on your Self Assessment tax return.

However, some international collective management organisations have already deducted tax before sending the money to us. These organisations are:

• EAU (Estonia)
• SGAE (Spain)
• ZAPA (Poland)
• LATGAA (Lithuania)
• REDES (Colombia)
• Screenrights (Australia)

If you have received income from these societies, you have already paid tax on it. You should make a note of this in your UK tax returns.

If you live (and are tax resident) outside of the UK, we are obliged to withhold UK tax at the current rate of 20% (on UK-sourced royalties only). If you believe you’re exempt from withholding tax, you need to contact HMRC who will issue a certificate of exemption. Tax deductions will then no longer be applied to payments you receive from us.

As tax is such a complex subject, we are not able to provide bespoke advice on an individual basis. If you have questions or concerns, you should speak to an accountant or tax advisor.

Why am I not able to add my book to my account?

This may be because your book has an ISBN number that starts with 979. ISBN numbers that begin with 979 can’t currently be added to your account through the ALCS website, but they are eligible for payment. We’re working on fixing this issue as soon as we can.

In the meantime, if you’re an existing member, please send the details of your affected books to publishedworks@alcs.co.uk and we will add them to your account.

If you are trying to join ALCS as a new member, please sign up by entering a book starting with a 978 ISBN number or a different work type. If you have no alternative work to enter, please sign up by downloading and submitting a paper application form.

Where does the money come from?

We collect money for writers from over 100 sources around the world where your books, scripts, articles or visual contributions are being used.

For a brief explanation of our biggest sources of income, watch the video below or read this article. You can also find a full list of the income sources for this distribution here.

For more information about adding works to your account, read our guides.

You can find a list of our FAQs here.

If you’re still unsure about anything, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.