Referral Program Terms

1. Eligibility

You are eligible for the Digital Empire referral program if (a) you have completed at least one paid purchase of a Digital Empire product (PixelProof, TariffWatch, EntryProof, or the Founding Trio bundle), and (b) you are not the same person or entity as the customer being referred (see §5 anti-abuse).

A referral code is auto-issued to the email associated with your first paid purchase. Codes are non-transferable.

2. Commission

• Rate: 20% of your referred customer's first-year purchases from Digital Empire (one-time payments in full; subscription products through the first 12 months of billing).
• Attribution window: A referral is attributed to your code if the customer clicks a link containing your code (?ref=YOUR_CODE) and completes a purchase within 7 days of that click. First-touch wins: if the customer already has an active cookie from someone else's code, that earlier code retains attribution.
• Currency: All amounts in US dollars.

3. Payouts

• Accrual: Commissions accrue as 20% of the paid subscription (or one-time) revenue we actually receive from the referred customer for 12 months from that customer's first successful payment.
• Minimum threshold: $10.00 (USD) in accumulated, non-reversed earned commission before a payout is eligible to be requested or issued.
• Timing: Payouts are issued manually, at Digital Empire's discretion, within 30 days of the calendar month in which the $10 minimum is first reached (net-30). Digital Empire may batch multiple months of accrued commission into a single payout at its discretion.
• Method: Payouts are sent via manual ACH transfer (US bank accounts) or PayPal (US and international) initiated by Digital Empire Holdings LLC. We do not use Stripe Connect, Stripe Payouts, or any automated affiliate payout platform for this program. You are responsible for providing accurate ACH or PayPal payout details when we request them.
• Tax form requirement: Before your first payout is released, you will be asked to submit a completed IRS Form W-9 (US persons and entities) or Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E (non-US persons and entities) via a secure link. Payout is withheld until we receive a valid form. We request the form at first payout eligibility rather than at signup because most referral-code holders never earn a payable commission; this minimizes personal-information collection.
• Refunds, chargebacks, and disputes: If a referred customer's purchase is refunded, charged back, or disputed by their card issuer, the corresponding commission is automatically reversed and marked as ‘refunded’ in your ledger. Reversed commissions are irrecoverable, even if the underlying transaction is later re-processed.

4. Refunds and clawbacks

If a referred customer's purchase is refunded by Digital Empire (in whole or in part) at any time, the corresponding commission is automatically reversed and marked as ‘refunded’ in your ledger. If the commission has already been paid out at the time of the refund, the reversed amount will be deducted from your next payout, or invoiced to you if no further payouts are pending.

5. Anti-abuse and disclosure

The following actions void all associated commissions and may result in your removal from the program:

• Self-referrals. You cannot earn commission by referring an account you own or control, including sock-puppet accounts, alternate emails, or family/business accounts you have beneficial interest in. The system automatically blocks a checkout where the referring email matches the referred email; other self-referral patterns identified through review will result in commission reversal.
• Fake referrals. Fabricated conversions, coordinated refund-then-rebuy schemes, or any activity designed to inflate your commission without corresponding real customer value.
• Trademark misuse. Bidding on Digital Empire brand terms (or the product-specific names PixelProof, TariffWatch, EntryProof, or Founding Trio) in paid search, or running deceptive ads that impersonate Digital Empire, will void commissions and may result in program removal.
• Spam. Sharing your referral link via any method that violates CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL, or any applicable anti-spam law. You are solely responsible for how your link is distributed.
• FTC endorsement disclosure (16 CFR §255). Referrers must clearly and conspicuously disclose their affiliate relationship with Digital Empire whenever they promote a Digital Empire product using their referral link, in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides at 16 CFR Part 255 (as revised in 2024). Acceptable disclosures include, but are not limited to, “#ad”, “affiliate link”, “paid partnership”, or a plain-English statement such as “I earn a commission if you sign up through my link.” The disclosure must be placed where a reader will see it before or at the same time they see the link (not buried below the fold, not in a linked disclosure page, not in a footer). Failure to disclose may result in immediate termination of your referral status and forfeiture of any accrued but not-yet-paid commissions.

6. Taxes and 1099-NEC reporting

You are solely responsible for reporting and paying all federal, state, and local taxes owed on your referral commissions.

1099-NEC issuance. If you are a US person or entity and Digital Empire pays you $600 or more in referral commissions in a single calendar year (per IRS Form 1099-NEC reporting rules), we will issue you a Form 1099-NEC in January of the following year and file a copy with the IRS. Payment of the correct valid tax form (W-9) is a precondition to receiving payouts once you cross the $600 annual threshold; we may withhold payment until we have your W-9 on file.

Non-US referrers. Non-US persons and entities do not receive a Form 1099-NEC, but are required to submit Form W-8BEN (individual) or Form W-8BEN-E (entity) to establish foreign status. Absent a valid W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E, US withholding may apply.

Reporting all commission income. Regardless of whether Digital Empire is required to issue you a 1099-NEC (i.e., even below the $600 threshold), you remain responsible for reporting all commission income to your applicable tax authorities.

7. Termination

Digital Empire may terminate your participation in the referral program at any time, with or without cause, upon written notice sent to the email associated with your account. Any commissions that have already been earned prior to termination remain payable, subject to the anti-abuse, disclosure, and refund provisions above.

You may terminate your participation at any time by emailing hello@citationsafe.com. Your referral code will be deactivated within 24 hours of that request; any commissions already earned remain payable per the standard schedule.

8. Contact

Questions about your referrals, payouts, tax forms, or these terms: hello@citationsafe.com. Digital Empire Holdings LLC, 30 N Gould St Ste N, Sheridan WY 82801.