Individual vs. company developer account for a sole proprietor selling a paid desktop app (MSIX) in Microsoft Store (Japan)

Question

Individual vs. company developer account for a sole proprietor selling a paid desktop app (MSIX) in Microsoft Store (Japan)

tan pal 0

Hello,

I am planning to publish a paid Windows desktop app (MSIX) in the Microsoft Store from Japan. I have not registered a developer account yet, because the documentation says an individual account cannot be converted to a company account later, so I want to choose correctly the first time. I have not decided whether to sell as a sole proprietor (an individual running a small business, with no incorporated company) or through a company.

The documentation says:

(a) Individual accounts are for distribution "not in relation to business, trade, or profession."

(b) Freelancers distributing in relation to their business should open a company account.

(c) A company account is verified with a D-U-N-S number or official business documents, plus a work email on the company's domain.

My questions:

Q1) For a sole proprietor selling a paid app, is a company account required, or is an individual account acceptable?

Q2) If an individual account is used to sell a paid app, is that allowed? Are there any differences in receiving revenue (payout, tax forms/withholding, thresholds) compared with a company account?

Q3) Can a sole proprietor in Japan pass company verification with a government-issued business registration document (for example, a notification of commencement of business filed with the tax office, or a tax return) instead of a D-U-N-S number?

Q4) Is a mailbox on my own domain acceptable as the "work email" for a sole proprietor?

Q5) If I start with an individual account and later need a company account, can a published app (with its reviews, ratings, and listing) be moved to the new account?

I tried to open a support case at developer.microsoft.com/windows/support, but the Engage Center page only shows a loading indicator for a Microsoft account without a developer account. If anyone has experience with this, I would appreciate your advice.

Thank you.

tan pal 0 Reputation points

2026-11-01T16:42:52.0366667+00:00

Follow-up to the AI answer, two points that the documentation does not state explicitly. (1) For Company verification without a D-U-N-S number, would a Japanese "Notification of Commencement of Business" (kaigyo-todoke, filed with the tax office) or an income tax return be accepted as the official business document for a sole proprietor? If not, which Japanese documents are accepted? (2) Is an Individual account allowed to sell a paid app, and what happens (for example, a later request to move to a Company account) if the app is sold as part of a business? Thank you.

1 answer

Your answer

tan pal 0 Reputation points

2026-11-01T16:42:52.0366667+00:00

Follow-up to the AI answer, two points that the documentation does not state explicitly. (1) For Company verification without a D-U-N-S number, would a Japanese "Notification of Commencement of Business" (kaigyo-todoke, filed with the tax office) or an income tax return be accepted as the official business document for a sole proprietor? If not, which Japanese documents are accepted? (2) Is an Individual account allowed to sell a paid app, and what happens (for example, a later request to move to a Company account) if the app is sold as part of a business? Thank you.

Answer 1

A sole proprietor selling a paid app as part of a business should register a Company developer account, using official Japanese business documents if a D‑U‑N‑S number is unavailable.

Answers by question

Q1 — Is a Company account required?

Yes, for the activity described. Microsoft assigns:

Individual accounts to hobby, personal, or other distribution not related to a business, trade, or profession.
Company accounts to independent developers and freelancers distributing apps in relation to their business, trade, or profession.

A sole proprietor can therefore select Company even without an incorporated company; the deciding factor is commercial/professional activity, not incorporation alone. ^1^

Register through the supported new-account flow:

Go to https://storedeveloper.microsoft.com.
Select Get started.
Select Company account.
Sign in with either a personal Microsoft account or a Microsoft Entra work account.
Enter the sole proprietorship’s legal details exactly as shown on the verification documents.
Choose D‑U‑N‑S verification or upload official business documents.
Supply the work email and finish business, employment, and mandatory due-diligence verification.

The current onboarding flow has no registration fee for either account type. ^1^

Q2 — Can an Individual account sell a paid app, and are payouts different?

An Individual account is not the appropriate account type when the app is being sold as part of a sole-proprietor business. Microsoft’s published classification focuses on whether distribution relates to a business or profession, not merely whether the app has a price. ^2^

For a paid offer, Partner Center requires validated payout and tax information:

Set up a payout account.
Complete bank and tax forms.
Meet the applicable payment threshold before monthly payment is issued. ^3^
Japan supports Microsoft Store payments and PayPal payments. ^4^

The documentation supplied here does not identify separate payout thresholds, payment schedules, or withholding rates merely because an account is Individual rather than Company. Tax treatment is instead determined by the tax profile, residence, sales location, and submitted forms.

As a non-US publisher, the appropriate US tax form is generally completed electronically in Partner Center. US withholding applies to sales into the United States; the default for many developers outside the US is 30%, potentially reducible under an applicable treaty. An ITIN is not required to receive payment or claim treaty benefits. ^5^

Japanese tax consequences are separate; consult a Japanese tax professional regarding sole-proprietor income and consumption-tax obligations.

Q3 — Can Japanese documents replace a D‑U‑N‑S number?

Yes, D‑U‑N‑S is recommended for faster automated verification but is not the only route. Company onboarding also accepts official documents such as:

Government-issued business registration or licence
Formation or registration documents
Government registry records
Tax filings

Document verification is manual and therefore may take longer. ^6^

A Japanese notification of commencement of business may fit the government-issued business registration category, and a tax filing is an expressly listed document category. However, Microsoft does not specifically name those Japanese forms, so acceptance of a particular document cannot be guaranteed before review.

Use a current document showing the same legal name and address entered in Partner Center. Detailed verification rules state that documents generally must have been issued within the preceding 12 months; older primary documents may require current secondary evidence such as a recent tax record or government-registry entry. ^7^

Q4 — Is a mailbox on a personally owned domain acceptable?

Yes, provided it is:

An individual work mailbox, not a generic/group alias
On the domain associated with the business
Able to receive the one-time verification code

For example, [Email] is preferable to a shared address such as [Email]. If the domain or entity details do not match, Microsoft may request the domain registration record or invoice showing the entity/contact name, domain, and registration or renewal dates. ^7^

Q5 — Moving the published app later

An Individual account cannot be converted into a Company account; a separate Company account must be created. ^1^

The available documentation does not establish a self-service transfer procedure or guarantee that an MSIX product’s identity, customers, ratings, reviews, and listing will all move between these account types. Do not assume that creating the second account will preserve them automatically. This is another reason to open the Company account initially.

Before publishing under an Individual account, obtain written confirmation from Store developer support covering:

Product ID and package identity
Existing customer entitlements
Ratings and reviews
Store listing and reserved name
Payout/tax history
Whether the source and destination accounts must share ownership

Support when Engage Center keeps loading

Since the attempted generic support page did not load, use the dedicated MSA users Store publisher support link listed on the Windows developer-support page; there is a separate link for Entra ID users. ^8^

After enrollment, Partner Center also provides Help (?) → Contact Support for account management, verification, enrollment, payouts, and app-management cases.

References