Tax and Invoicing as an IB: Getting Paid Cleanly Across Borders
How Introducing Brokers handle tax forms, VAT, withholding, and invoicing so cross-border commission payouts arrive complete and on schedule.
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Also known as: Net Trading Revenue, NGR (Net Gaming/Generated Revenue), Net Deposits Revenue
Net Revenue is the money a broker actually keeps from a client's trading activity after subtracting the direct costs of servicing that activity. Starting from gross revenue (spreads, commissions, and any losses the client hands to the desk), the broker deducts liquidity and platform fees, payment-processing charges, bonuses, and chargebacks. What remains is the figure most profit-share partnerships pay out on.
Gross revenue and net revenue are not the same pool, and the gap between them can be large. Gross revenue is everything the trading generated at the top; net revenue is what survives after the broker covers the cost of generating it. A revenue-share IB is almost always paid on net, so the definition of "net" in the contract is where real money is won or lost.
Consider a client who pays $10,000 in spreads and commissions over a month. The broker routes that flow to a liquidity provider costing $2,500, pays $400 in card and wire fees, and credits the client a $600 deposit bonus. Net revenue is $10,000 - $2,500 - $400 - $600 = $6,500. On a 30% revenue-share deal the IB earns $1,950 that month, not the $3,000 a naive read of gross would suggest.
Because every broker draws the deduction line differently, "net revenue" is a negotiated term, not a fixed accounting standard. Two brokers advertising "40% net revenue share" can pay wildly different amounts depending on whether bonuses, hedging costs, and dormant-account fees are pulled out before or after your split is calculated.
The broker's back office aggregates all revenue a client generates in the payout period, then applies a stack of deductions defined in your partnership agreement. Typical deductions are liquidity/hedging costs, platform licensing (MT4/MT5, cTrader), PSP and banking fees, deposit or loyalty bonuses, and refunds or chargebacks. The remainder is net revenue, and your agreed percentage is applied to it.
The critical variable is deduction scope. A "tight net" deal subtracts only true third-party costs; an "aggressive net" deal also loads in marketing rebates, staff costs, and every bonus, shrinking the base your share is calculated on. Reputable CRMs (Cellxpert, Income Access, myAffiliates) expose a per-client ledger so you can reconcile the net figure line by line.
Sum all spreads, commissions, and net client losses attributed to your referred clients in the period.
Subtract liquidity/hedging fees, platform licensing, and payment-processor charges tied to that flow.
Remove deposit bonuses, cashback, and loyalty credits granted to those clients if the contract allows it.
Subtract reversed deposits and any clawed-back amounts from the period.
Multiply the resulting net revenue by your contracted percentage to get your payout.
Why it matters for partnership: Revenue-share IBs are paid on net, not gross, so the contract's deduction list directly sets your paycheck. Audit exactly what the broker subtracts before your split, and negotiate to keep client bonuses and hedging costs out of the net pool where you can.
An IB on IC Markets' partnership program refers a group of active FX scalpers who generate $22,000 in gross spread revenue over a month. After IC Markets deducts roughly $6,000 in liquidity and platform costs and $1,000 in payment fees, net revenue is about $15,000. On a 35% net revenue-share deal the IB is paid around $5,250 — versus the $7,700 they would have expected if they had budgeted against gross.
| Basis | What it includes | IB impact |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue | All spreads, commissions, client losses before costs | Higher headline, rarely the payout base |
| Net revenue | Gross minus liquidity, platform, PSP, bonus costs | Actual payout base for revenue-share deals |
Before signing, ask for a sample net-revenue statement on a real client so you can see exactly which line items the broker strips out before your percentage is applied.
Assuming the advertised revenue-share percentage applies to gross — client deposit bonuses and hedging costs are quietly pulled from the net pool first, shrinking your actual payout by a third or more.
No. Gross is all revenue a client generates; net is what remains after the broker deducts liquidity, platform, payment, and bonus costs. Revenue-share deals almost always pay on net.
Typically liquidity/hedging fees, platform licensing, payment-processor charges, client bonuses, and chargebacks. The exact list is defined in your partnership contract, not by law.
Often yes. Experienced IBs push to keep deposit bonuses and internal marketing costs out of the net calculation, which materially raises the payout base.
A spike in deposit bonuses, chargebacks, or hedging costs in the period can shrink net revenue even when gross activity grows. Ask for the deduction breakdown.
Request a per-client ledger from the affiliate CRM and reconcile each deduction line. Reputable brokers on Cellxpert or Income Access provide this on demand.
No. CPA pays a fixed amount per qualified client regardless of revenue. Net revenue only matters under revenue-share or hybrid models.
How Introducing Brokers handle tax forms, VAT, withholding, and invoicing so cross-border commission payouts arrive complete and on schedule.