openaccountants Global Ad Platform Vendor Patterns v0.1
General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.
Pattern table
| Vendor | Bank statement variations | Default category | VAT/GST notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | GOOGLE*ADS, GOOGLE *ADWORDS, GOOGLE IRELAND LTD, GOOGLE ADS DUBLIN |
Advertising | EU B2B reverse charge (Google Ireland). UK: reverse charge. India: 6% equalisation levy withholding on payments by Indian payors |
| Meta / Facebook / Instagram Ads | FACEBK *, META PLATFORMS, FACEBOOK IRELAND, META PLATFORMS IRELAND |
Advertising | Same as Google Ads — EU/UK B2B reverse charge from Meta Ireland; India 6% EL |
| LinkedIn Ads | LINKEDIN, LINKEDIN CORP, LINKEDIN IRELAND |
Advertising | Microsoft subsidiary; LinkedIn Ireland for EU |
| TikTok Ads / Bytedance | TIKTOK INFO TECH, BYTEDANCE, TIKTOK ADS, TIKTOK PTE LTD |
Advertising | Singapore (TikTok Pte Ltd) or UK invoicing; EU B2B reverse charge |
| X / Twitter Ads | X CORP, TWITTER ADS, X HOLDINGS |
Advertising | US (X Corp); EU B2B reverse charge |
| Microsoft Ads / Bing Ads | MICROSOFT ADS, MICROSOFT*ADVERTISING, MICROSOFT IRELAND OPS |
Advertising | EU B2B reverse charge (Microsoft Ireland) |
| Amazon Ads | AMAZON ADS, AMZN ADVERTISING, AMAZON ADS EMEA |
Advertising | EU B2B reverse charge (Amazon Online Sales Ireland or AMS EMEA Sarl) |
| Reddit Ads | REDDIT INC, REDDIT BUSINESS |
Advertising | US supplier (Reddit Inc); EU B2B reverse charge |
| Pinterest Ads | PINTEREST INC, PINTEREST EUROPE |
Advertising | US supplier; EU operations |
| Snap Ads | SNAP INC, SNAP*ADS |
Advertising | US supplier |
| Taboola | TABOOLA INC, TABOOLA EUROPE |
Advertising / content discovery | US HQ; EU operations |
| Outbrain | OUTBRAIN INC, OUTBRAIN EUROPE |
Advertising / content discovery | US HQ; EU operations |
| Quora Ads | QUORA INC |
Advertising | US supplier |
| Yahoo Ads | YAHOO INC, VERIZON MEDIA, YAHOO INC NEW |
Advertising | US supplier (post-Verizon spin-off) |
| Yahoo Japan Ads | YAHOO JAPAN, LY CORP |
Advertising | Japan supplier (now LY Corp after LINE merger) |
| Baidu Ads | BAIDU INC |
Advertising | China supplier |
| Naver Search Advertising | NAVER CORP, NAVER* |
Advertising | South Korea supplier |
| Yandex Direct | YANDEX, YANDEX RUSSIA |
Advertising | Russia / Nidex (post-2024 spin-off); sanctions check |
| Spotify Ads / Spotify Ad Studio | SPOTIFY ADS, SPOTIFY AB |
Advertising / audio | Sweden HQ |
| Apple Search Ads | APPLE SEARCH ADS, APPLE INC ADS |
Advertising | Apple Inc / Apple Distribution International |
| The Trade Desk | THE TRADE DESK INC, TTD |
Advertising / DSP | US supplier |
| DV360 (Display & Video 360) | GOOGLE DV360, GOOGLE *DV360 |
Advertising / DSP | Same as Google Ads |
| Amazon DSP | AMAZON DSP, AMAZON ADS DSP |
Advertising / DSP | Same as Amazon Ads |
| Awin | AWIN LTD, AWIN AG |
Affiliate marketing | UK / Germany supplier |
| Impact / Impact Tech | IMPACT TECH, IMPACT.COM |
Affiliate / partnership | US supplier |
| ShareASale | SHAREASALE, AWIN US INC |
Affiliate marketing | Awin subsidiary |
| Refersion | REFERSION INC |
Affiliate marketing | US supplier |
| Partnerize | PARTNERIZE LTD |
Affiliate / partnership | UK supplier |
Special treatment: India Equalisation Levy 2.0
[T1] Indian payors must withhold 6% Equalisation Levy on payments for online advertising services to non-residents (Finance Act 2016 §165). Failure leads to disallowance under §40(a)(ib) ITA.
The Indian advertiser:
- Withholds 6% from payment
- Remits to Income Tax Department
- Reports annually in Form 1
- Discloses on income tax return for §40(a)(ib) deduction allowance
See digital-services-tax-matrix.md for full DST treatment.
EU place of supply (B2B advertising)
[T1] Article 44 PVD: B2B services taxed where customer established → reverse charge for cross-border B2B. Article 59a may shift to country of effective use/enjoyment for some non-EU customer cases — confirm.
Default classification
- Schedule C: Line 8 — Advertising
- UK self-employment: Box 14 (Advertising and entertainment)
- EU bookkeeping: "Werbung und Marketing" / "Publicité"
Self-checks
- Ad spend separated from creative production / agency fees
- Indian EL withheld where applicable (Indian payor → non-resident provider)
- EU/UK B2B reverse charge applied
- Currency conversion at payment date
- Russia / sanctioned-jurisdiction advertising screened
Source: OpenAccountants — open tax Guides for AI, reviewed by named CPAs/CAs/EAs. Quality: source-cited draft. For always-current figures and named-accountant backing, connect the OpenAccountants MCP server (openaccountants-mcp).