ITIN for Course Creators: Udemy, Teachable and Kajabi

Short answer

Usually not. Udemy and Skillshare withhold US tax on sales or viewing from the US, but you can claim your treaty rate on a W-8BEN, and Udemy asks for the tax number your own government issued. Teachable and Kajabi say they don’t handle income tax on your sales at all. An ITIN helps mainly if your country issues no tax number or you need a US return to reclaim tax.

Marketplace or your own course site?

The platform type decides whether any US tax is withheld. On a marketplace, the platform sells your course and pays you a share that it treats as royalties, so sales to US students count as US income. On a course-site platform, you sell to your own students and the platform processes the payments.

Platform	What it asks non-US creators for	US tax withheld
Udemy	W-8BEN (W-8BEN-E for companies) with your local TIN	30% on US student sales by default, less with a treaty claim
Skillshare	W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, through Tipalti	0–30% on US-sourced minutes watched and referral revenue
Teachable (Teachable Payments)	W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E once you earn over $100	Teachable says it doesn’t handle income tax on your earnings
Kajabi (Kajabi Payments)	Account details for its Stripe-based processing	Kajabi says it doesn’t calculate, collect or remit taxes
Thinkific (Thinkific Payments)	Business and tax details at setup	Its help describes 1099-K forms for US residents only

Udemy: royalties on US sales

Udemy withholds US tax only on the part of your revenue that comes from US students. “By default, Udemy must withhold 30% of income from U.S. student sales when paying out non-U.S. instructors,” it says, and “no IRS withholding will apply for income from non-U.S. students.”

Udemy classes your earnings as copyright royalties. A treaty can cut the 30%, but only if you claim it on the W-8BEN you submit under Payout settings. Look up your country’s rate for copyright royalties in the IRS tax treaty tables. It’s 0% for residents of the UK and Germany, for example, and 15% for India.

The tax number Udemy wants is your home country’s: “For non-U.S. instructors, your TIN will be the taxpayer identification number issued by your local government.” Leave it blank or enter an invalid one and Udemy withholds at the maximum rate. If there’s no valid form on file at payout time, Udemy suspends the payment rather than paying you without one.

Instructors who certified non-US status and had US earnings can download a Form 1042-S from Udemy. It shows the royalties and the tax withheld. Our Form 1042-S guide explains it.

Skillshare: minutes watched from the US

Skillshare pays teachers royalties based on minutes watched. It withholds on “U.S.-sourced minutes watched or referral revenue,” at anything from 0% to 30%, depending on your form and treaty. You submit a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E through Tipalti, its payout provider, with your tax ID and treaty country.

Finish every part of the tax step. Skillshare says an incomplete form means the maximum 30% withholding, and that it won’t refund tax withheld for that reason. Skillshare emails Forms 1042-S through Avalara’s Track1099; for 2025 earnings it gave a date of March 16, 2026.

Teachable, Kajabi and Thinkific

These platforms run checkout for your own school, and none of them describes withholding US income tax from non-US creators.

Teachable Payments requires a tax form from every school earning more than $100 through it: a W-8BEN for individuals outside the US. If you reach $500 without one, payouts are held until you submit it. Teachable is clear that it “does not handle income tax on your earnings.” If you connect your own Stripe account through its Custom Payment Gateway, all tax obligations on those sales are yours.
Kajabi Payments runs on Stripe and is open to businesses registered in the US, Canada, Australia, the UAE, the UK and some European countries. Its terms say Kajabi won’t “calculate, collect, report, or remit any Taxes.”
Thinkific Payments sends a Form 1099-K to US residents who pass the IRS reporting threshold. Its help pages don’t describe any US tax forms or withholding for creators outside the US.

If you take payments through your own Stripe or PayPal account, our guides to Stripe and PayPal cover what they ask for.

Live coaching and cohorts

Teaching live over video counts as a service, not a royalty. IRS Publication 519 treats pay for services as income from the place where the work is done, so coaching you deliver from outside the US is foreign-source income and isn’t taxed by the US. A US client or platform may still ask for a W-8BEN to confirm you’re not a US person. If you teach through tutoring marketplaces, see the guide for online tutors.

When an ITIN helps

The IRS W-8BEN instructions require an ITIN for a treaty claim only if you don’t give a tax number from your country of residence. So an ITIN is worth getting when:

your country doesn’t issue tax numbers and you want a treaty rate on Udemy or Skillshare royalties
tax was over-withheld and the platform won’t refund it, as Skillshare says for incomplete forms; getting it back needs a Form 1040-NR, and a US return needs an SSN or ITIN
you taught in person in the US and that income wasn’t fully covered by withholding

How to apply for an ITIN explains Form W-7, and the content creators overview compares the other creator platforms.

Common questions

Does Udemy take 30% from non-US instructors?

Only from sales to US students, and only by default. Udemy says a tax treaty can reduce the rate, “sometimes even to 0%,” if you claim it on your W-8BEN. Sales to students outside the US have no US withholding.

Do I need an ITIN for Udemy’s tax form?

No, if your country issues tax numbers. Udemy says that for non-US instructors, “your TIN will be the taxpayer identification number issued by your local government.” If you don’t enter a valid TIN, it withholds at the maximum rate.

What happens on Skillshare if I skip the tax step?

Skillshare applies the maximum 30% withholding if the tax step in Tipalti isn’t fully completed, and says it won’t refund tax withheld because a form was incomplete. Getting that money back then means filing a US return.

Does Teachable withhold US tax from creators outside the US?

Teachable requires a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E once your school earns more than $100 through Teachable Payments, and holds payouts at $500 without one. It says it “does not handle income tax on your earnings,” so reporting that income is up to you.

Is money from live coaching for US students taxed in the US?

Generally not, if you teach from outside the US. The IRS treats pay for services as income from where the work is performed. A US client may ask for a W-8BEN to document that.

Sources

Checked against these sources on September 15, 2026.

Do online course creators outside the US need an ITIN?