I am the owner of a fairly new business that will publish original comic books and sell them online and through stores. I am outsourcing the art drawn through a gentlemen that lives in Indonesia. My questions are1- Is this considered a business expense?2- I recently noticed that his paypal account says "Non-U.S. Verified"I don't know if that means that it is verified to be a business not within the United States or a business that is hasn't been verified by the United Sates. Either way would affect my ability to claim it as a business expense?3- If I can claim it as a business expense, is there anything I need to do out of the ordinary "bookkeeping"?4- Any additional advice?I really appreciate any help/advice that I can get. Thanks.

I can't answer all of it but as far as the verified thing...from what I understand it means that PayPal hasn't verified him for the US. It works like when you sign up with PayPal, they want a verified address...until you verify it with them, it will claim you aren't verified. It is to make people more cautious.

I would be interested in seeing a link to your site once you get going. It's quite an undertaking. I've recently started selling T Shirts that I design so I know it's not an easy road but good luck to you!

The "verified/non-verified" is just the paypal status. To have an account verified, the account holder needs to transfer a small amount of whatever currency they use to paypal, which is then refunded to them, and their account becomes verified.