# Get paid for your product without opening a company

Published 2026-09-19 by Panche Isajeski · Tallinn
Source: https://bootstrappedmakers.com/blog/get-paid-without-opening-a-company

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In 30 seconds- You don’t need a company. A platform sells your product for you, legally.
- They pay you out, with a statement in your name.
- That statement is what your bank wants to see.
- Tax depends on your country. Take the 5 questions here to an accountant.

I'm Panche, creator of [bootstrappedmakers.com](https://bootstrappedmakers.com/). I've spoken to dozens of people building software, design, SaaS or a productized service (marketing, SEO, etc).

The second most common question I get is always the same:

**"Can I get paid from abroad as a private individual, without opening a company?"**

The answer is yes. Here is the playbook.

Once you can take money, the next question is what to put on the page: [what 230 companies charge in 2026](https://bootstrappedmakers.com/blog/saas-pricing-models-2026).

The goal: to understand the whole path from a sale to foreign currency landing in your account, and what you owe where you live.

> ⚠️ This is not tax advice. Sections 02 to 05 work the same anywhere.
> The tax section (06) is general: tax categories, rates and filing dates differ in every country, so it gives you the questions to ask rather than answers.
> Confirm with an accountant before you file.

## The short version

 01**You license it**
To a platform that sells it for you. No company.

 02**They sell it**
They are the legal seller, so they handle sales tax and VAT.

 03**You get paid out**
With a statement in your own name.

 04**Bank + income tax**
Show the statement. File income tax where you live.

 - You, as a private individual, license your digital product to a merchant of record.

 - They are the ones who legally sell it. They collect and pay the sales tax and VAT.

 - You get a payout statement and an invoice issued in your name.

 - The money lands as a foreign currency inflow in your foreign currency account.

 - You show that document at the bank.

 - Income tax is yours. How it is classified and what you pay depends on your country.

 - You file it yourself, on your own country’s schedule.

That's all of it.

## What you are actually selling

This is the part most people get confused about, and it is the key one when the bank or your accountant asks.

You are **not** selling directly to the end buyers.

You license your digital product to a merchant of record.

In their terms you appoint them as a **non-exclusive reseller** and grant them a worldwide licence to market, resell and deliver access to your product.

Ownership of the product stays with you. They are only the channel it is sold through.

Legally, for you it looks like this: **a private individual sells a licence to their own digital product and receives foreign currency compensation for it.**

> 💡 One more detail that matters for your tax filing: in most of these terms, your delivery is considered to have happened on the payout date, not when the buyer paid.
> Check the wording of the one you pick. That date tells you which month you file in.

## How the money reaches you

![Buyer pays, the merchant of record sells and collects the VAT, you get a statement in your own name, the money lands in your own foreign currency account]()

The payout itself arrives by Wise, bank transfer or PayPal, depending on the platform.

For every payout they issue a self-billed invoice, or a payout statement if you are not VAT registered, in your name.

That document is your proof of where the funds came from. **If a platform will not give you a document in your own name, it is no use to you here,** however good the product is.

## Picking a merchant of record

There are several. Published fees, checked 17 September 2026, each from the platform's own pricing page.

 Platform | Published fee | Notes |

 **[AgentaOS](https://agentaos.ai)** | From 4% on card sales, lower on bank transfer | Note: I am one of the founders.Built for exactly this case: an individual selling globally from a country the bigger platforms often skip. Payout via Wise, and a statement in your name for the bank. |

 **[Creem](https://creem.io)** | 3.9% + $0.40 per transaction | Newest of these, built for indie SaaS |

 **[Polar](https://polar.sh)** | 5% + 50¢ on the free plan, from 3.8% + 40¢ on the $20/mo plan | Cheaper per sale once volume justifies the monthly fee |

 **[Paddle](https://www.paddle.com)** | 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction | The oldest and largest, strictest on what it will accept |

 **[Lemon Squeezy](https://www.lemonsqueezy.com)** | 5% + 50¢ | Now owned by Stripe |

 **[Gumroad](https://gumroad.com)** | 10% + $0.50 direct | Simplest to start, most expensive per sale |

 **[FastSpring](https://www.fastspring.com)** | Not published, quoted per account | Enterprise-oriented |

**Fee is the third thing to compare, not the first.** In this order:

 - **Will they pay out to you, where you are?** This is the filter that eliminates most options and it is the one nobody writes about. Check the supported payout countries before anything else. A 3.9% fee is worth nothing if the payout never reaches you.

 - **Will they issue the document in your name?** You need the payout statement or self-billed invoice for the bank. Ask before you sign up.

 - **Will they accept what you sell?** Every one of them has a restricted list. Read it against your actual product.

 - **Then compare the fee.**

## What the bank wants

The bank usually wants two things.

**1. A document showing the basis for the inflow.**

That is the payout statement and the invoice the platform issues you. You submit them to the bank as proof of what you sold and what the money is for.

**2. A contract, if they ask for one.**

Some banks want a contract with the foreign entity paying you. The contract is that platform's terms of service, which is publicly published.

By opening an account you accept those rights and obligations, and that is normally written explicitly in the document itself.

If the bank officer insists on a signed copy, print the reseller section and show that it is publicly published and accepted at registration.

 **Built a SaaS product, and nobody has paid yet?**Three free playbooks. The first is in your inbox a minute from now.[Steal my playbook →](https://bootstrappedmakers.com/#hwl)

## Tax

### What is NOT your obligation

When the platform is the legal seller, the sale does not create VAT or sales tax for you.

No registration, no filings, no invoices you need to issue to buyers, no withholding. The consumption tax on that sale is theirs, in every country they sell into.

### What IS your obligation

The tax on the income you receive. That is the only part that stays with you, and it is decided entirely by where you live.

In most countries this income lands in one of three categories:

 - **Royalty or copyright income**, because you licensed your own work to a reseller

 - **Self-employment or business income**

 - **Ordinary personal income**

Which one it is decides your rate, whether you can deduct costs, and how often you file. Twenty minutes with a local accountant settles it once and for good.

**The five questions to take to them:**

 - Is licensing my own software to a foreign reseller treated as royalty income here, or as self-employment?

 - Can I deduct costs against it, and are there standardised deductions I qualify for?

 - Do I file monthly, quarterly or annually, and on what date?

 - Does the platform being the legal seller remove any VAT obligation for me? In most places it does.

 - Which date counts — when the buyer paid, or when the payout reached my account?

> 💡 Question 5 matters more than it looks. Most merchant of record terms treat delivery as happening on the payout date, not when the buyer paid.
> That date decides which period you file in. Check the wording of the one you pick.

## The deadlines people miss

This is the part missing from most conversations on this topic, and the part that gets people fined.

**Because the platform is a foreign company, nobody withholds tax for you up front.** There is no local payer filing anything in your name.

The obligation to declare is entirely yours, and it starts with the first payout.

Two things to find out once and write down:

 - **How often you file** — monthly, quarterly or annually, and the exact date

 - **Whether there is an annual return** that confirms or corrects what you filed during the year

**In practice:** set a calendar reminder a few days before your filing date. The payout statement is already prepared, so you are only entering a number you already have.

## What this playbook does NOT cover

To be honest about the limits:

 - **This applies if you are selling your own IP.** Software, a productised service, a digital product, templates, courses. If you sell physical products or a service you perform in person on site, the rules are different.

 - **If the volume becomes regular business activity,** at some point a company is the better option, both for tax and operationally. This setup is for starting out and for solid amounts, it is not forever.

 - **The tax part is general.** Rates, categories and filing dates differ everywhere, so the tax section gives you the questions, not the answers. Sections 02 to 05 work anywhere.

 - **It is not tax advice.** Take the tax section to an accountant where you live and get it settled once.

## Questions I keep getting

**"Do I really not need a company?"**

Not for this setup. You open an account as a private individual, pass the ID check, leave a foreign currency account. You sell your own digital product, the platform is the legal seller.

**"What if the bank doesn't understand what this is?"**

Show the payout statement and the link to the terms. It is a standard foreign currency inflow on the basis of a licence for a copyrighted work.

Banks know that basis, they are just not used to seeing it come from a platform.

**"How much tax will I pay?"**

That depends entirely on where you live and how your country classifies this income. The tax section (06) has the five questions that settle it.

Anyone giving you a number without knowing your country is guessing.

**"Who pays the VAT?"**

The platform does. When they are the legal seller, the consumption tax on the sale is their obligation, not yours.

**"Which one should I pick?"**

Whichever one pays out to you and gives you a document in your name. Work down the four questions in section 04 in that order.

If two of them pass, then compare the fee.

**"What if I forget to file?"**

Nobody files for you. The obligation is yours, on your country’s schedule. Set a reminder.

## The next 48 hours

 Today- Pick a platform using the questions in section 04
- Open an account as a private person, pass the ID check, add a EUR or USD account
- Create your first product and checkout link

 Tomorrow- Send the link to your first buyer
- Look up how your country taxes royalty or copyright income

 This month- First payout, with a statement in your name
- That document to the bank
- A reminder a few days before your first filing date

## Links

**Merchants of record**

[AgentaOS](https://agentaos.ai) · [Creem](https://creem.io) · [Polar](https://polar.sh) · [Paddle](https://www.paddle.com) · [Lemon Squeezy](https://www.lemonsqueezy.com) · [Gumroad](https://gumroad.com) · [FastSpring](https://www.fastspring.com)

> If you know someone putting off selling because they think they have to open a company first, forward them this.

A $0 playbook from Bootstrapped Makers, for agency owners, freelancers and indie makers building their first product. — Panche Isajeski, creator of [bootstrappedmakers.com](https://bootstrappedmakers.com/)