Inkdrop needs to collect your billing address

Please input your billing address so that you can avoid paying consumption tax.

Takuya Matsuyama

20 Jan 2021 — 3 min read

Hi, it’s Takuya. This is an important announcement regarding billing information for Inkdrop, which is for dealing with Japan's consumption tax. Our privacy policy has been updated along with this.

TL;DR

What to do

Please input your billing address on this page.
日本居住者の方も、情報の一貫性のためお手数ですがご入力をお願いいたします。

Why

If your billing address is in Japan, you shall be responsible for payment of a consumption tax. If not, you are exempt from payment of a consumption tax.
Inkdrop must collect your billing details because I have to be able to provide them to the national tax agency Japan if they asked.

What will happen

A consumption tax (10%) will be added by default unless you input your billing address outside Japan until March 1st.

Inkdrop needs to collect your billing address

Thankfully, Inkdrop is about to reach 10 million yen in annual gross sales this year. In Japan, there is a 10% consumption tax added to products and services. Companies and self-employed people that earn more than 10 million yen (consumption tax excluded) a year shall be responsible to pay consumption tax. In other words, Inkdrop has been exempted from it because it is a small business.

However, Japan’s consumption tax is only added to services to domestic residents. That means, if you live outside Japan, you can use Inkdrop duty-free. It is already implemented since the beginning by asking if you live in Japan or not on the signup page and the billing page. But Inkdrop didn’t require your billing details like your billing address.

About a half of the customers of Inkdrop are from outside Japan. So, half of my gross sales are not subject to consumption tax. Inkdrop can be still exempted from paying it. And Inkdrop must prove this by collecting the customer’s billing details because I have to be able to provide them to the national tax agency Japan if they asked (ref: №6551 輸出取引の免税｜国税庁). So, I changed the webpage to require your billing details and updated the privacy policy along with it (See the diff on GitHub).

Please go on to the billing page to input your information if you are a paid user. If you didn’t input your billing details, a consumption tax will be added by default. I will also announce this via email.

Inkdrop does not store your billing details directly in the Inkdrop server but on Stripe safely. Inkdrop does not share or sell them with others. They are used only for my accounting purpose.