KDP royalty calculator

For a paperback sold on Amazon.com, KDP pays 60% of the list price minus the printing cost when the list price is $9.99 or more, and 50% minus the printing cost below that: (royalty rate × list price) − printing cost = royalty. The printing cost itself is a fixed cost plus a per-page cost that depends on your ink, paper and trim size.

Expanded Distribution pays 40% of the list price minus the printing cost, and makes the paperback available to bookstores and libraries outside Amazon. At a low list price this can come out at or below zero — when it does, this calculator shows it as not available at that price rather than a negative royalty.

This calculator covers Amazon.com paperback sales only. UK and EU marketplaces, and ebooks, are not covered yet.

KDP withholds US tax from royalties by default at 30%. An author who completes the W-8BEN tax interview in KDP and doesn't have a US taxpayer ID can enter the income tax identification number issued by the tax authority in their country of residence instead. Under the India-US tax treaty (Article 12), the rate on royalties for the copyright of a literary, artistic or scientific work — which covers a book — is 15%, the rate this calculator uses.

The tax withheld in the US isn't the end of it: under Indian tax rules, a resident who has already paid tax on foreign income can claim credit for it using Form 67 when filing their Indian return, so the same royalty isn't taxed twice.

This is not tax advice. Indian income tax on royalties is calculated separately from this US withholding; talk to a tax professional about your own return.