Substack now collects and files sales tax on your behalf

December 1, 2026. From that date, Substack will collect and remit applicable sales tax on all paid subscriptions processed through our platform. If you have been filing sales tax yourself, you will no longer be responsible for collecting and remitting those taxes after this date.

No. Substack’s fee remains 10%. There is no additional charge for tax collection and remittance.

Where sales tax applies, it will appear as a separate line item at checkout. Your subscription prices remain unchanged by default. Subscribers will not be charged more than what is legally required in their location.

Publishers outside the US and Canada can opt into inclusive pricing, where tax is deducted from your subscription price rather than being charged separately to subscribers at checkout. If you choose this option, we recommend reviewing your plan prices to account for the deduction. You can set this preference in your VAT settings at any time.

No. Sales tax/VAT is charged on purchases — it's collected from your subscribers at checkout and remitted to tax authorities. Income tax is charged on what you earn as a publisher, and remains entirely your responsibility to file and pay.

Yes. Stripe Tax applies all relevant laws to publishers' specific situations when calculating tax amounts. You can find detailed guidance on Stripe’s website, and general guidance on how to navigate this within your settings on our Help Center here.

At this time, Stripe Tax does not have functionality to allow Substack to collect or remit sales taxes/VAT on behalf of publishers located in Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, India, or Thailand. Publishers in these countries remain responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting sales taxes/VAT.

You can stop remitting VAT for any payments processed by Substack after December 1, 2026. Substack will take on full legal responsibility for collection and filing from that date. We recommend consulting your tax advisor to confirm your obligations for any payments processed before December 1.

VAT rates vary depending on the type of content you publish. Substack uses these to apply the correct rate. You can confirm your content categories (for example, written content, video, or community access) in your VAT settings. By default, the highest applicable rate across your content types is used. You can choose to split VAT proportionally across content types instead.

Yes. Starting December 1, sales tax will be added on top of your subscription price for US subscribers where required. For new paid subscribers, it will appear as a separate line item at checkout. For existing paid subscribers, sales tax changes will be reflected on their receipt upon renewal.

Yes. If you have paid subscribers in countries where sales tax or VAT applies, Substack will now collect and remit that tax on your behalf, regardless of where you are based as a publisher.