How to sell a game on Steam from Brazil: fees, Valve's cut and US tax

To sell a game on Steam while living in Brazil, you pay the $100 Steam Direct fee per game, complete Steamworks onboarding with your bank and tax details, and split revenue with Valve. Steam withholds 30% US tax on the part of your payout that comes from US sales. Back in Brazil, that income goes into the carnê-leão.

Quick answer

• •Fee: $100 per game, paid back once the game reaches $1,000 in Adjusted Gross Revenue.
• •Split: Valve keeps 30%; past $10 million it drops to 25%, and past $50 million to 20%.
• •US tax: with no US-Brazil tax treaty, 30% is withheld on the share of your payout from US sales.
• •Payout: monthly, in US dollars, by the 30th of the following month, with a $100 minimum.
• •Brazil: report it in the carnê-leão and offset the US tax within the legal limit.

How much does it cost to sell a game on Steam?

According to the Steam Direct Fee page on Steamworks, it costs $100 (or the local-currency equivalent) for each new app you want to distribute on Steam. Every game pays its own fee.

The fee isn't refundable, but it is recoupable. Valve pays it back in the payment after your product hits at least $1,000.00 in Adjusted Gross Revenue, as a separate line item on your monthly report.

The onboarding page lays out the timeline:

How does Steamworks onboarding work for a developer in Brazil?

Steamworks is Valve's partner portal. To sell a game on Steam, you e-sign a non-disclosure agreement and the Steam Distribution Agreement. Then you enter your bank details, your tax information and identity verification.

Legal name. If you own the game as an individual, you pick "Sole Proprietorship" as the company form and enter your legal first and last name as the company name. The name has to match your bank records and your tax documents.

Bank. Valve asks for the account number, routing number and bank address. The account holder's name must match the name you used to onboard.

Tax interview. A short questionnaire sets your tax status and withholding rate. If you live outside the US, it collects W-8 information. Under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) instructions, a foreign individual uses Form W-8BEN and a foreign entity uses Form W-8BEN-E. A third-party service then verifies your details, which can take up to 30 days.

What is Steam's revenue share?

When you sell a game on Steam, you're paid on net revenue, meaning gross revenue minus refunds, chargebacks and taxes, multiplied by your revenue share percentage, according to Valve's payments FAQ. Valve doesn't post that percentage on a public page; it lives in the Steam Distribution Agreement.

Two public documents fill in the numbers. Valve's November 30, 2018 announcement says that, starting October 1, 2018, once a game makes over $10 million on Steam, the split moves to 75/25 on earnings beyond $10 million. At $50 million, it moves to 80/20 on earnings beyond that. Game packages, DLC, in-game sales and Community Marketplace fees all count. And a November 25, 2024 order from the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, in Wolfire Games v. Valve, notes that Valve set its commission at 30%, held it there for years and now cuts it to as little as 20% for best-selling games.

The tiers are marginal. A game with $12 million in revenue pays 30% on the first $10 million and 25% only on the next $2 million.

How much US tax does Steam withhold from a Brazil resident?

Steam's Tax FAQ says revenue share payments are classified as royalties. Your rate comes out of the tax interview and ranges from 0% to 30% on US-source income. For anyone living in a country with no income tax treaty with the US, the FAQ is blunt: the IRS requires Valve to withhold 30%.

That's Brazil. The IRS treaty list, updated January 3, 2026, doesn't include it. IRS Publication 515, updated April 30, 2026, says most US-source income paid to a foreign person is taxed at 30%, and only a treaty lowers that rate. For copyright royalties, the source of the income is where the work is used.

That's why the withholding doesn't hit your whole payout. Your monthly report has a US Share column, the part of your payment that came from sales in the US. Withholding equals the US Share times your rate.

The FAQ adds two warnings. A US taxpayer ID (ITIN or EIN) is for claiming treaty benefits; without a treaty, it won't move you off 30%. And Valve doesn't refund past withholding when your rate changes, because the tax has already gone to the IRS. If you filed a W-8, you'll get Form 1042-S, showing your US-source income and the tax withheld, by March 15.

Our guide to US tax for Brazilian creators and developers compares Steam with other stores, and our Roblox DevEx article walks through the same royalty logic on another platform.

Worked example: what's left when you sell a game on Steam for $19.99

Assumptions: 1,000 copies at $19.99, no refunds, no chargebacks and no VAT built into the price. In the US, per the Tax FAQ, sales tax is added on top of the Steam price. The US share of sales is hypothetical.

With only US sales, you keep about 49% of the sticker price, roughly $9.80 a copy. With 40% US sales, about 62%. The $100 Steam Direct fee comes back as a separate line item, but it only repays what you already spent. Bank fees and Brazilian tax aren't in this table.

When does Steam pay out, and how does the money reach Brazil?

After you sell a game on Steam, expect to wait about 30 days: February sales are paid by March 30, according to Valve's payments pages. The deposit can take a few business days to post.

• •Minimum: Valve may hold your payment until you've earned at least $100.
• •Currency: US dollars only. US banks get paid by ACH; banks outside the US get a USD SWIFT wire.
• •Fees: Valve doesn't pass wire fees on to you, but it can't control intermediary or receiving bank fees. A "Holding Payment" setting lets you hold payouts below an amount you choose.
• •Prerequisite: nothing goes out until your bank and tax information is complete and verified.

For more on getting paid from abroad, see receiving international payments with a US LLC.

How do you report Steam income in Brazil?

The Receita Federal (Brazil's federal tax authority) says income an individual resident in Brazil receives from foreign sources is subject to the carnê-leão, the monthly individual income tax. It's due by the last business day of the month after you receive the money.

Offset. Where there's a treaty or reciprocity, tax paid abroad can be offset against the carnê-leão and the Declaração de Ajuste Anual (the annual return), within the legal limit. For the US, the Receita doesn't require proof of reciprocity, and reciprocity doesn't cover state or local taxes.

Limit. The offset can't exceed the Brazilian tax due on the same income. Any excess isn't refunded.

Conversion. The amount is converted to reais at the Banco Central do Brasil (Brazil's central bank) buying rate for the last business day of the first half of the month before you received it.

Keep the monthly report, the deposit date, Form 1042-S and your bank statement.

Selling through a Brazilian company is a different analysis: the tax interview becomes an entity interview (W-8BEN-E), there's still no treaty, and Brazilian taxation follows the company's tax regime. Take that one to your accountant.

Does a US LLC change anything when you sell a game on Steam?

Less than most people think.

What doesn't change. The IRS instructions for Form W-8BEN say the single owner of a disregarded entity is treated as the beneficial owner of its income. That's a single-member LLC that hasn't elected to be taxed as a corporation. The owner, who lives in Brazil, files the W-8BEN. With no treaty, withholding stays at 30% of the US Share.

What can change. The name on the contract and the bank account: the registered company must own or have the right to publish the game, and its name must match the account. And the payout method: a US bank account gets ACH, but that depends on where the bank is, not on the LLC.

What becomes a different conversation. The Tax FAQ mentions LLCs filing as a C or S corporation. Those submit a W-9 as US taxpayers and take on their own US tax obligations.

In Brazil, an LLC brings annual obligations. Our US tax guide for creators explains how the Receita treats transparent LLCs, and the Wyoming LLC guide for non-residents covers costs. For a first game, get onboarding right before forming anything.

Checklist to sell a game on Steam from Brazil

1. •Decide who signs: you ("Sole Proprietorship," legal name) or a company that owns the rights.
2. •Have a bank account in the same name that accepts USD SWIFT wires.
3. •Take the tax interview as a Brazil resident and allow up to 30 days for verification.
4. •Pay the $100 Steam Direct fee and count 21 days to your earliest release date.
5. •Keep a "coming soon" page live for two weeks and allow 1 to 5 days for review.
6. •Each month, download the report and log gross, adjustments, US Share, withholding and net.
7. •Pay the carnê-leão by the last business day of the month after each deposit, and keep Form 1042-S for the annual return.

Related articles

• •US tax withholding for Brazilian creators and devs
• •Roblox DevEx and US tax for Brazilian developers
• •Minecraft Marketplace: withholding and tax for Brazilians
• •LLC for a SaaS or software company

Disclaimer

This material is informational and does not replace an analysis of your case. US withholding, the offset in Brazil and the treatment of an LLC depend on your tax interview answers, your tax residence and your corporate structure. Valve tells partners to consult their own tax advisors. No promise of results is made.

Talk to a specialist: OffshoreProz reviews the tax paperwork of developers who sell a game on Steam from Brazil. Schedule a conversation.