someone help 😭 i thought if i had direct payout i didnt have to do a tax interview? i did change my payout mode, so i'm not sure if that's the only way to get my money

Heya! Were those purchases made before you swapped the payment mode over--as I don't think it retroactively changes how those payments were made and they're still being held by itch.io as a result, thus the need for the tax interview!

If the payments were made to Itch, then you must do the tax interview in order to claim that money, regardless of your current setup.

Summarizing:

itch.io collect
customer pay to itch.io
itch.io have the money.
itch.io pays to you (you need Tax interview)

Straight to you.
client pays you.
itch.io never touches money. (you are responsible for paying taxes.)

If you need to request a payment, it is because customers have already paid itch.io and for itch.io to pay you, you must do the interview, and maybe need to ask support for the configuration change.

Good luck.