Can creators withdraw money from Patreon anonymously?

[Gregk]

Hey, I've got this doubt and I'm not sure if this is the forum to post it.
Anyways, here it goes.
Can you be a creator at Patreon (or SubscribeStar) and withdraw your earnings, while remaining anonymous?
I guess this is a relevant topic for adult games makers. I'm not talking about tax shenanigans. I think that you should pay your taxes, but you may not want the government or anyone learning that this is the activity where (some of) your income comes from.
I would like to know if Patreon asks for ID before paying out your earnings. I know that it takes a cut from earnings for taxes and if your anual revenue reaches U$S 20.000, you have to fill extra papers, but is there an scenario in which your identity as a creator is not visible for Patreon?
Also, I found that Payoneer asks for documents, and I guess that PayPal too. If we disregard a bank transfer as an anonymous option, is there any other way to cash out?

 

[anne O'nymous]

Can you be a creator at Patreon (or SubscribeStar) and withdraw your earnings, while remaining anonymous?

There's surely always a way, but it's really not a good idea.

I'm not sure for SubscribeStar, but Patreon take care of your tax forms, what imply that you've to be transparent. But anyway at some time you'll want to withdraw your money, and for this you'll have to give they the references of your bank account. Whatever if it's a PayPal account instead, it will anyway be the reference to a place where you had to give your real name.

Therefore, the question is : What do you fear to not give they your real name ?

If it's just because you don't trust them enough, then why are you even creating an account ? Are you really trusting them enough to manage the money you'll earn through their service, but not enough to give them your real name ?
If it's because you fear the authorities of your country (by example because porn is illegal), then giving a false name will change nothing. As I said above, there will always be a place, between the money and your, where the intermediary will know exactly who you are. Therefore, giving a false name to Patreon will just delay the investigation, but at no time it will protect you.

 

[Gregk]

Thanks for your answer.

About this question, "What do you fear to not give they your real name?".

I don't have a clear answer.
However, I don't plan on sharing this project of creating an adult game with my gf and family, my colleagues at work or my peers at college. If I make a game, and some how my identity is made public, it'd be devastating.
I guess I'm not the only one thinking like this, most of the users on the board have usernames which don't reflect their real life identity.
I also guess that some game creators may be open in ther social circles about what they do, but others may not.
Those who don't, those who include themes in their games which are socially frowned upon (mind control, violence, etc), shouldn't those be cautious about giving their real names?
I think it's a reasonable fear.

Anyways, I guess that you're right in that you have to choose if it will be Patreon or Paypal or both who will know your true identity. Otherwise, you can't get those donations into your account.
I thought that maybe, there was a way to circumvent this (for example, Patreon -> some payment provider -> crypto, etc...). It seems not.

 

[Deleted member 2465880]

i have had similar thoughts, but how could the people at patreon or paypal ever reveal to the people within your social circle and more broadly old school friends and the like this information? There's the chance that someone you know works at these companies which would be very unlucky but they are probably legally prevented from revealing information about users

 

[Gregk]

You are most probably right.
However, I find that every site has leaks these days.

 

[drguyo]

seems like Patreon hands off all payment processing stuff to Stripe / Paypal Patronner so nothing is stored on their server besides your Legal first / last name. and your ID whenever Patreon Safety team verifies you acount

i found the only way would to be form a LLC. from what i've read, Delware, Wyoming and New Mexio have better privacy.


but then you would need a EIN and form a business bank account. uu give this info to Patreon.
but im not sure how u would have a Bank account without any ID. so Patreon woold know your real name on the account details anyways?

obviously, this costs quite a bit more then being an invidual. but probably worth it.

probably off-shore acount would be better

 

[ririmudev]

LLC might work, especially if you have someone trusted to be the registered agent. Bank and gov't would need to know you exist, but that's relatively fine (don't want tax problems anyway). I think the offshore approach may essentially boil down to the LLC approach, but with more hassle and expense.

 

[Freade]

I dont know much about this, but when showing the receipts on your taxes, will they really have access to the content that you are producing, or it just says how much you are earning and how much you have to pay for taxes?