Escape Master

Important Tax Update

Dear Escape Masters...

The people who run our pledge manager told me I shouldn't say this, but I couldn't do that in good conscience. I want to be completely transparent with you all because your hard earned money is valuable. I messed up on the tax configuration for backers out of the state of Ohio. Based on mis-information, I charged out-of-state backers the Ohio sales tax of 5.75%. Other states have sales tax that may be higher or lower than this amount, but the number of backers we have in these other states did not reach the threshold of requiring sales tax. 

THE FIX: I reconfigured the tax rules in the system. Now OUT-OF-STATE backers who have ALREADY finalized their pledge, may go back into Hive, reopen their pledge, fill it out again, and request a refund for the amount overpaid. For most of you, the refund will amount to about 1 dollar (a small deduction is taken out by the system to cover the transaction). For others who pledged more, it may amount to about 5 dollars. You will have to take action if you would like the refund, but we are happy to assist you.

*The tax rules should be correct for any new out-of-state backers finalizing their pledge.

I'm sorry for not getting this right the first time! I will know how to do this better in the future.

THE CRAZY WORLD OF TAXES: Taxes in general are very unpredictable. There is a chance that all paper products arriving to the US from China after January of 2025 will be subject to tariffs up to 25%. This will HUGELY affect the many board games being shipped from China. Boardgame creators are being advised to be prepared to re-open their pledge managers if this happens, so they can charge their backers this additional tax. If it comes to that, the small tax refund available to out-of-state backers will be taken back with additional taxes to cover the tariff. If out-of-state backers choose not to get the tax refund now, the amount they overpaid will be credited to them for whatever amount is owed for the tariff. However, we plan to evaluate the situation if the tariff comes to pass and decide whether it is possible for us to absorb part or all of the tariff for our backers. We can't promise that will be the case, but it would certainly be our preference. Hopefully, we don't have to worry about any of this...

5 More Days to Finalize Your Pledge!

Those of you who have not finalized your pledge yet, please go ahead and do so. We don't want anyone to miss out on their rewards! Finalizing by the deadline is the best way to be confident you will get your rewards on time. If you happen to forget, it is not the end of the world, but doing it now will make the process easier for everyone. Click HERE to access your pledge on Hive.

Phew... Enough of that! Thank you all for supporting us :). We truly can't wait for you to play the game!!!

Warm regards,

Zac and Lily