IRC section 1441(a): the payer must withhold 30 percent from US-source income paid to a foreign individual or partnership (26 U.S.C. 1441(a))
The US buyer that pays a foreign individual or partnership holder is the one who must hold back 30 percent of a US-source royalty and send it to the IRS. The holder is not left to pay it later.
Dated 18 Oct 2026Source checked 18 Oct 2026Basis: primary text
In the source's own words
“all persons, in whatever capacity acting ... having the control, receipt, custody, disposal, or payment of any of the items of income specified in subsection (b) (to the extent that any of such items constitutes gross income from sources within the United States), of any nonresident alien individual or of any foreign partnership shall ... deduct and withhold from such items a tax equal to 30 percent thereof”
Figures it counts in
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
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