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Over £96,000 in Unpaid PLR Earnings

Are you registered for PLR and have not heard from us for a few years? If so, we may have outstanding earnings for you. Please contact the PLR office for further information.

Please select a question from the drop down list:

 

Who does PLR make payments to?

Payments are made to applicants who have registered titles which have recorded sufficent borrowing to receive a payment. We do not make payments to publishers as they do not qualify under the terms of the PLR scheme. Information regarding eligibility and registration is available in How Do I Apply For PLR?

 

 

 

When and how are payments made?

Payments are made to registered applicants once a year each February.  Wherever possible, payments are made by the most cost effective method.  For UK residents, payments are credited direct into their bank/building society account.  For EEA residents, payment can be made either by Euro cheque or into a nominated UK bank account.  We also offer payment via collecting society for EEA residents who are a member of a collecting society with whom we have an arrangement.

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When will I receive my statement?

Providing that you have registered books by the previous 30 June, you will receive a statement each January.  This provides details of estimated national loans of all your books, the payments due on each and how the payment will be made. 

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What do I do if I haven't received my payment?

You should first check the details included in your annual statement to determine the date which your earnings were due to be paid (usually the first week in February – however your statement will provide more specific dates), and check your payment method before following the steps below:

  • If you were due to receive your earnings via bank or building society, you should contact them first and advise them of the payment due date.  If they are unable to trace the payment please contact us
  • If you were expecting to receive your earnings by cheque, you should verify that we hold your current address details. You may view the personal details which we hold for you online via our online registration service, or alternatively you can contact us. Please note that we are unable to provide personal details via email.
  • If you were being paid via a Collecting Society, please note that it may take up to 4 weeks for your payment to reach you.  If you have allowed adequate time and you have still not received your payment, you should contact us and we will contact the Collecting Society on your behalf to investigate.

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Are PLR earnings subject to tax and VAT?

Payments to UK residents will be made without deduction of tax.  You should include details of the sums received as income in your tax returns.  However, for non-UK residents, the PLR office is obliged to deduct tax before payment is made.

Payments to non-UK residents will be subject to tax at the basic rate, under Section 536 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988.

PLR Payments to authors resident overseas - applications and claims by non-residents under double taxation treaties

If you have income from a source in one country and are resident in another, you may be liable to pay tax in both countries under their tax laws. To avoid 'double taxation' in this situation, the UK has negotiated Double Taxation (DT) treaties with more than 100 countries.

If you are a resident of a country with which the UK has a double taxation treaty, you may be able to claim exemption or partial relief from UK tax on certain types of income from UK sources. The precise conditions of exemption or relief can be found in the text of the relevant treaty.

Relief from UK tax provided in a DT treaty is not automatic. Treaty benefits must be the subject of an application to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Only the overseas person receiving the income can make a valid application.

As a resident of a DT treaty country who receives any of the following income from UK sources:

  • interest
  • royalties (PLR)
  • pensions and purchased annuities

you may be able to apply for relief from UK tax.

The relief available depends upon the terms of each DT treaty and HMRC decides whether an application is allowable. If it is, relief at source is normally allowed on future payments of the income. HMRC directs the payer (by issuing to the payer an exemption notice under Regulation 2 of the Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (General) Regulations 1970 (SI 1970 No. 488) as amended, to pay the income either:

  • without tax deducted
  • with tax deducted at a reduced rate of tax as laid down in the DT treaty

Where tax has already been deducted from previous payments of the income, the repayment of UK tax is made by the UK HMRC.

Further information and downloadable forms for each country can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/app_dtt.htm. (Tel: 0845 300 0627 from UK or +44 135 535 9022 from overseas.)

PLR is outside the scope of VAT and should not be declared on VAT return forms.  In cases of difficulty your local VAT offices should be asked to refer to VAT Administration Directorate (VAH2) quoting reference TL1158/82.

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How can I amend my payment details?

 You can amend your payment details via the following options:

  • Online.  If you already have an online account, you may view and amend the personal and payment details we hold for you once logged in.  If you do not currently have an online account, apply for a login
  • In writing (including your signature) or by signed fax. See contact us.

Unfortunately, for security purposes we are unable to accept changes to payment details via email or over the telephone.

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How do I receive payments if I live outside of the UK?

In order to make payments which are tax exempt, PLR use collecting societies for EEA residents where possible. We have arrangements with the collecting societies listed below which allows us to make block payments, which the collecting society then distributes on our behalf to their individual members.  

If you are a member of one of the collecting societies listed and you are willing to receive payment via this method, please insert the name of the appropriate collecting society when applying (either online or via application). If you are already registered, you may amend your payment details at any time either via the online service or in writing (contact us). If you have nominated a Collecting Society it is necessary for PLR to contact them to verify your membership and arrange for payments to be collected on your behalf.

Alternatively, earnings may be paid by cheque (in Euros) or directly into a UK bank account (in Sterling).

PLR earnings made by cheque to authors living outside the UK are made in Euros. Payments will be converted to Euros from Sterling at the rate that applies on the day on which they are paid from PLR's bank account.

Please note you will liable for tax unless you apply for individual tax exemption.  Please refer to Are PLR earnings subject to tax and VAT? for further details.

 

Country of Residency Collecting Society
Austria Literar-Mechana
France SOFIA
Germany VG Wort
Germany Bild Kunst
Ireland ICLA
Italy SIAE
The Netherlands Lira
The Netherlands Pictoright
Spain CEDRO

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What is a collecting society?

Collecting Societies exist in most countries and collect remuneration rights for authors (eg PLR and photocopying rights). An author who is a member of one of the collecting societies we have an agreement with can choose to have their PLR payments sent via the society. View list of collecting societies

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How much is paid to foreign collecting societies each year?

In February 2011 (PLR loans year 1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010) the following amounts were paid to foreign collecting societies to distribute to their members:-

Collecting Society Amount in £ Amount in €
Bild Kunst
3,139.36
3,660.49
CEDRO (Spain)
2,139.69
2,485.56
ICLA (Ireland)*
150,316.58
175,269.26
Lira (The Netherlands)
4,497.13
5,243.71
Literar-Mechana (Austria)
457.37
532.11
SIAE (Italy)
133.09
155.19
SOFIA (France)
1,973.72
2,301.49
Pictoright (The Netherlands)
1,240.00
1,445.88
VG Wort (Germany)
3,245.47
3,784.27

* Only distribute to Irish authors

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What are the payment thresholds?

The maximum anyone may receive in a year is £6,600; earnings that total less than £1 are not paid.  Money saved as a result of these thresholds is returned to the fund for redistribution.

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Am I guaranteed a payment and how much can I expect to receive?

It is not possible to predict whether you will be entitled to a payment, or how much you can expect to receive as this depends on the popularity of your registered books, and the ‘pence per loan figure’, which changes each year.  The tables below show the payments which were made to registered applicants in the last payment round (February 2011).

Payment Band No of payments made
£5,000 - £6,600 356
£2,500 - £4,999.99 366
£1,000 - £2,499.99 877
£500 - £999.99 938
£100 - £499.99 3,649
£1 - £99.99 17,180
Total Recipients 23,366
Nil or below minimum threshold 11,470

 

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