Your distribution questions answered

Will I be paid?

Payments aren’t guaranteed and if you haven’t received an email from us about your statement by the end of the month, 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 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)
• ZAPA (Poland)
• REDES (Colombia)
• Screenrights (Australia)
• CAL (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.

How do I view my statement?

If you are due a payment in this distribution, you will receive an email letting you know that you can download your statement.

You will find your statement in your account in the folder marked ‘2024-2025’ and you can either:

• download it or
• click to have it emailed to you as a PDF

1. To download your statement in PDF format, click on Request Statement Download.
2. When your statement is ready for download, the message will change to Download Statement.
3. Click on Download Statement and your statement will download (most likely to your computer downloads folder).
4. Alternatively, click the option that emails your statement over to you.

Why are there negative amounts on my statement?

We occasionally receive payments from other organisations that include ‘negative’ amounts. These ‘negatives’ are generally corrections that have been made to previous payment amounts we’ve been sent (often because an incorrect tax rate has been charged which has been retrospectively picked up by the organisation that sent it). These will appear on the breakdown of your statement as a negative amount.

Why is my payment different from what I’m normally paid?

The amount of money you receive from us can fluctuate from year to year, even if you have received a similar amount over a long period of time. This can be due to a number of factors, including the type of work you produce, the way your work is used and when we receive income for your work. You can find out more about why payments fluctuate here.

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.

You can find out more about your statement here.