Your distribution questions answered

Why haven’t I been paid?

Payments aren’t guaranteed and if you haven’t received an email from us about your statement by 31 March, and there is no statement alert in your online account, you haven’t been paid this time. We receive different income streams from various sources throughout the year, so it’s possible you may receive a payment in our September distribution instead. Make sure your works and bank account details are kept up to date ahead of September and check again at the time of the next distribution. If you believe there has been a mistake, you can always contact us and we’ll be happy to look into this for you.

Payments to UK bank accounts should have arrived on or around Wednesday 25 March. However, payments to international bank accounts will take longer to arrive. The amount of time taken depends on a number of factors, including location, so if you don’t have a UK bank account and are waiting to receive a payment, please allow more time.

Why have I been paid less than usual?

The amount of money you receive from us can fluctuate from year to year. This depends on a number of factors, including the type of work you produce, the timing of the income we receive, and the ways your works are used.

• Payments for book royalties are based on sampling by the Copyright Licensing Agency, so amounts can fluctuate as different works are captured over time.
• For articles, these depend on the number of articles you’ve claimed for this year (note that articles can only be claimed for once), and the type of publication they’ve appeared in.
• For scripted audiovisual works, this depends on the length of your works, how frequently they’ve been broadcast, and the timing of the payments we receive from international partners.

Are payments taxed?

If you are tax resident in the UK, we don’t deduct income tax from your payments. This means you should declare any payments you receive from ALCS on your Self Assessment tax return.

However, some international collective management organisations have already deducted tax before sending the money to us. These organisations are:

• ATN (Chile)
• EAU (Estonia)
• REDES (Colombia)
• Screenrights (Australia)
• CAL (Australia)
• ZAPA (Poland)
• ZAMP (Croatia)

If you have received income from these societies, you have already paid tax on it. You should make a note of this in your UK tax returns.

If you live (and are tax resident) outside of the UK, we are obliged to withhold UK tax at the current rate of 20% (on UK-sourced royalties only). If you believe you’re exempt from withholding tax, you need to contact HMRC who will issue a certificate of exemption. Tax deductions will then no longer be applied to payments you receive from us.

As tax is such a complex subject, we are not able to provide bespoke advice on an individual basis. If you have questions or concerns, you should speak to an accountant or tax advisor.

How can I view my statement?

If you are due a payment in this distribution, you will have a statement uploaded to your ALCS online account.

You will find your statement in your account in the folder marked ‘2025-2026’ and you can either:

• download it or
• click to have it emailed to you as a PDF

1. To download your statement in PDF format, click on Request Statement Download.
2. When your statement is ready for download, the message will change to Download Statement.
3. Click on Download Statement and your statement will download (most likely to your computer downloads folder).
4. Alternatively, click the option that emails your statement over to you.

Where the money comes from

We collect money for writers from over 100 sources around the world where your books, scripts, articles or visual contributions are being used.

For a brief explanation of our biggest sources of income, watch the video below or read this article. You can also find a full list of the income sources for this distribution here. We have also produced guides to your statement, which you can find here and here (audiovisual).

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You can find out more about your statement here.