The questions we get most, grouped by topic. If yours is not here, the Help center covers troubleshooting, or write to hello@thetaxcut.com and a human will answer.
About the tool
What does The Tax Cut actually do?
It shows what is really left of a sale after every fee — not just the platform’s headline commission, but advertising, returns, subscription costs and the surcharges that appear only on a settlement statement. You enter your price, cost and volume, and it shows, line by line, what reaches your account. Eleven channels are priced; one (Canva) is deliberately not, because it cannot be.
Why is one channel marked as impossible to price?
Because it is. Canva pays creators from a royalty pool whose size it sets each month and divides across every export, with the weightings unpublished. There is no rate to calculate. Any Canva earnings figure you have seen is someone extrapolating from one month of their own account. We show that honestly rather than invent a number.
Is this tax advice?
No, and the name describes what platforms take, not government. Everything here is pre-tax — income tax, self-employment tax and sales tax are outside the model entirely. It is a research and comparison tool, not financial, tax, accounting, legal or investment advice, and it does not know your circumstances. See our Disclaimer.
Data and sources
Where do the numbers come from?
Three places, and each is labelled on every line. Settlement means the figure was read off a real payout statement in a live seller account. Official means it comes from the platform’s own published fee page, linked so you can check it. Published means a public rate never cross-checked against a payout. Estimate means it was inferred from limited observation — there is one of those in the whole database, and it says so. More on our Method and sources page.
What happens when a platform changes its fees?
The database is updated and the checked date moves with it. That date is shown against every line precisely so you can distrust a stale one. Platforms are always right about their own fees — if a figure here disagrees with the platform’s page, tell us and we will correct it with a new checked date.
What does the idea score measure?
Six things, all arithmetic: margin after every cost, how much of the price the platform holds, how much of your volume goes purely to covering fixed costs, how many months until your start-up money comes back, how much profit a ten percent discount destroys, and how well evidenced the fee data is. Each component shows its own points and why it scored that way. Nothing is a hand-set opinion.
Privacy and security
Are my numbers sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Prices, costs, volumes and ad spend are never transmitted, never logged and never stored on any server. The free tier asks for no account and no email. The only request the site makes is to check whether the current visitor has bought Pro — it sends nothing but the session cookie, and none of your figures. See our Privacy Policy.
Do you use tracking or advertising cookies?
No. The calculator sets no cookies at all. The only cookies on the site are the strictly necessary ones the shop needs when you sign in or check out. There are no advertising or tracking cookies and no tracking pixels. See our Cookie Policy.
Pro and pricing
What is free, and what do I pay for?
Every channel and every sourced fee is free forever, with no account and no email — the free tier is the whole database. Pro ($29, one time) adds the decision layer: the idea score, a 24-month cash projection, a sensitivity ranking, side-by-side channel comparison and CSV export, plus every future channel added later.
Is it a subscription?
No. The Tax Cut Pro is a single $29 payment. No recurring charge, no renewal. Updates and future channels are included at no extra cost while the Service operates.
Payment and account
How do I pay, and do I need an account?
Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, processed by Stripe — we never see or store your full card details. Checkout creates an account so Pro is attached to you rather than to one browser: there is no licence key to keep safe and nothing that breaks when you clear cookies or switch to your laptop. Sign in with the same email and Pro is there.
I bought Pro but the paid features are locked. What do I do?
Almost always this is fixed by signing in with the same email you paid with, then doing a hard reload (Cmd + Shift + R on Mac, Ctrl + F5 on Windows). If it persists, see the Help center or write to hello@thetaxcut.com with the email you used and we will sort it out.
Can I use Pro on more than one device?
Yes. Pro is tied to your account, not a device. Sign in with the same email anywhere. It is a personal licence for one user, though — please don’t share your credentials.
Refunds and support
Can I get a refund?
Thirty days, no questions, no form. Reply to your receipt or write to hello@thetaxcut.com and it is done. Refunds are issued through Stripe back to your original payment method and typically take five to ten business days to appear. See the Refund Policy.
How do I contact you?
Email hello@thetaxcut.com. A person reads it. For accessibility requests, privacy requests or legal notices, use the same address with the matching subject line — details are on the relevant policy page.