Last updated: August 2026
Steady works out the VAT on every membership sale, collects it, and declares it to the tax authorities. You never calculate VAT per member. The one thing you need to do is add your VAT rate or tax number to your Steady account before your first payout.
What you need to do
Before your first payout, add your tax details to your Steady account:
Based in Germany — your VAT rate (19%, 7% or 0%)
Based in the EU outside Germany — your tax number
Based outside the EU — your tax number
That's the whole job. What each case means is explained further down.
What Steady does for you
Works out the right VAT rate for every membership sale, based on where each member lives and what kind of content you publish
Collects that VAT and declares it to the relevant tax authorities
Handles the credit card and PayPal fees on membership sales
Converts currency when a member pays in a different currency from your payout, at no extra charge
Prepares your monthly invoice and pays out your earnings
Because Steady is based in the European Union, there are some advantages to using Steady if you're based in Europe.
Steady’s role: connecting members and media makers
Steady plays the role of an agent, mediating transactions between paying supporters (members) and the media maker (you). Steady makes two key transactions:
Steady “sells” memberships to your supporters. In this transaction, Steady is the provider. Your paying members are the recipients.
You as a media maker “supply” your content to Steady (so that Steady can then sell it to your members). In this transaction, the media maker is the provider, and Steady is the recipient.
This split is what lets Steady take the VAT work off your desk. Because Steady is the party selling memberships to your members, Steady is the party that owes the member VAT to the tax office.
Members → Steady
Each member pays VAT as part of their membership fee. Steady calculates the VAT rate for each membership sale.
The VAT rate for each person who buys a membership depends on:
the country where the member lives
the type of content you publish as a media maker
Steady calculates all the members’ VAT for you and passes it on to the tax office.
This saves you, the media maker, from having to calculate the VAT separately for every single person who supports your project.
Steady also works out all of the credit card and PayPal fees on the membership sales. If the member’s payment currency is different to your media maker’s payout currency, Steady does a currency conversion for you.
Steady does not charge a currency conversion fee, and does not charge a fee of its own for paying your earnings out. The fees PayPal charges for the payout itself are passed on to you, like other payment costs.
If you're weighing Steady against other platforms, here's how Steady compares to Substack, Patreon or Ghost.
Media maker → Steady
Reminder: you as a media maker “supply” your content to Steady (so that Steady can then sell it to your members).
In this transaction, you are providing a service to Steady.
And like any other situation where you provide a service, you need an invoice for your accounting, and you may need to pay VAT for that service. The invoice for providing a service usually states the amount due for the service, plus VAT.
Each month, alongside your payout, Steady prepares a two-page document for you:
Page 1 — Credit Note. Your earnings for the month and your VAT rate.
Page 2 — Monthly Statement. The full breakdown: membership sales, the VAT deducted, Steady's commission, and your net payout.
Example of a Steady invoice, pages 1 and 2
Steady prepares this document* for you each month and calculates the VAT on your behalf. It arrives alongside your monthly payout for "providing" the content.
The invoice you receive consists of the “Credit Note” (p1) outlining your earnings and VAT rate. The “Monthly Statement” (p2) gives a breakdown of your earnings, including the VAT deducted from membership sales.
*Please note that the invoice prepared by Steady is a “self-billing invoice”, also called a “credit note”. This means that Steady calculates how much we owe you for providing content to us. This differs from a typical invoice whereby you, the service provider, would prepare and send us the invoice. The self-billing invoice saves you, the media maker, accounting work.
Net payouts
The net payout you as a media maker receive is the amount generated by membership sales, minus:
Steady’s 10% commission,
the VAT on membership sales, and
transaction fees (credit card and PayPal fees).
Here are some further examples of Steady payouts.
How does Steady calculate the VAT rate?
Steady is based in Germany. VAT for the Media maker → Steady transaction is handled differently depending on the country where you as the media maker reside.
VAT for Germany-based media makers
If you pay taxes in Germany, you’ll need to declare your VAT rate in the Steady backend before your first payout.
In Germany, the individual VAT rate is either 19%, 7% or 0%. You will need to declare this VAT to the Finanzamt (tax department), just as you must declare your income. It is the responsibility of you, the media maker, to provide this rate to Steady.
19% VAT is the standard rate
7% is the reduced rate applicable to the sale of “basic needs” goods, including groceries, books, and magazines
0% VAT rate, i.e. a VAT exemption, is generally only possible for small businesses whose turnover was less than €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year
If you are a Germany-based media maker and you do not know your VAT rate, please consult your tax advisor.
Setting your tax rate in Steady’s backend:
From this information, Steady calculates the VAT that the media maker needs to pass on to the tax office and adds this to the media maker’s net payout and invoice. This saves you, the media maker, accounting time and hassle!
VAT for EU-based media makers outside of Germany
Before your first payout as an EU-based media maker outside of Germany, you’ll need to declare your tax number in the Steady backend.
For EU-based media makers outside of Germany, your net payout and monthly invoice does not include an added VAT rate. It states on the invoice “plus 0% VAT”. This is because the Reverse Charges VAT Mechanism applies.
Reverse Charges VAT is an EU regulation that prevents money from moving across borders and back again needlessly.
The payout for EU media makers based outside of Germany is therefore the net sales amount with no added VAT.
If you are a media maker based in the EU outside of Germany, it is your responsibility to declare reverse charge VAT and pass it on to your local tax authority via the appropriate VAT reporting method in your region.
VAT for non-EU-based media makers
For non-EU-based media makers, it depends on a country-by-country basis as to how the Media maker → Steady VAT transactions are handled. But generally, the Reverse Charges Mechanism applies. You will need to provide your tax number in the Steady backend before your payout.
If you have further questions about your personal VAT status, we recommend contacting a taxation adviser. Steady is not able to give taxation advice.
Still need help?
What is Value-Added Tax (VAT)?
Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a tax which is payable on sales of goods or services. Within the European Union, VAT is calculated as a percentage of the cost of the product. The VAT rate varies between EU member states. The final VAT tax burden falls on the end consumer of the good or service. Each party in the chain of supply (manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer) acts as a VAT collector and passes the VAT onto the tax office.
In Steady’s case, the members are the final customer and must pay the VAT for their membership. This is included in the price of their membership (subscription) to your media content.
For your personal VAT rate, please contact a tax adviser – Steady can’t give tax advice. For anything about your Steady account or payouts, email support@steadyhq.com and we’ll be happy to help.
Related: Your payouts, with examples.