Top tax filing tips for YouTubers
YouTube, the king of video streaming platforms, is a source of livelihood for millions of content creators worldwide.
YouTubers produce informative and educational content for their target audience. The platform allows YouTubers to monetize their content creation efforts through its partner program.
This has encouraged the United States Government to tax YouTubers. The government taxes YouTubers just like the rest of the US nationals.
Are you earning your bread and butter through this video streaming platform?
What do you want to do with your income?
- Do you want to pay it to the government?
- Do you want to save it for yourself?
The choice is yours.
We suggest you learn top tax filing tips for YouTubers reading this post.
Let’s get started!
Learn about the taxes YouTubers Pay
You will have to pay two different types of taxes mentioned below:
- Income tax.
- Self-employment tax.
YouTubers fall in the category of employed people.
This means you are considered an employer.
You will have to pay Self-employment tax.
Remember, YouTube does not deduct taxes from your income.
Here are some top tax filing tips for YouTubers to help you file taxes.
- Seek help from a professional and experienced financial advisor for choosing your business type and niche.
- Always maintain a record of your income and spending.
- Do not be a couch potato and wait till the last date.
- Do not underestimate the value of writing off taxes for the following:
- A desktop system.
- A laptop.
- A smartphone.
- A tablet.
- Software used for video editing
- Fee for trademark and copyrights.
- Photography subscriptions.
- The cost of advertising and marketing.
- A website.
- Email services.
- Travel expenses.
- Expenses related to home office space and supplies
- The money you spend on the mileage of your vehicle.
- The cost of educational resources, SEO services, data storage, and internet connection.
- The cost of a website domain and hosting (if applicable).
- The cost of camera and subcontractor services.
- An experienced financial advisor can be the right hand for you to count on for all this.
But there is something more important than all these things.
- Learn about US Tax Requirements relevant to YouTube income.
Those who are searching for more top tax filing tips for YouTubers must value educating themselves about US Tax requirements related to the YouTube income they earn.
Submit tax information to Google:
Again, YouTube does not deduct taxes from your income. The platform is one of the products of Google.
Google gathers tax information from all content creators as a part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and deducts taxes from their YouTube income.
Google withholds the taxes deducted and informs the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if YPP creator bags revenue from the viewers in the United States.
Google takes this action if you earn revenue from the viewers in the US through the following:
- Advertisement views
- YouTube Premium.
- Super Chat.
- Super Stickers.
- Channel Memberships.
Remember, you should not depend on Google and YouTube for seeking any advice related to tax matters about your earnings YouTube.
You should seek advice from a professional expert on financial and tax matters. This is one of the most valuable top tax filing tips for YouTubers planning to file taxes.
Learn to submit your tax information to Google
Google is responsible for collecting your tax-related information as per the guidelines of chapter 3 of IRC (Internal Revenue Code).
YouTube monetizing creators from all parts of the world must submit their tax-related information to Google.
Do this as soon as possible on a priority basis. If you do not comply with this instruction, Google reserves all rights to deduct up to 24% tax from your overall global earnings.
Follow the list of steps mentioned below to submit your tax information to Google:
- First, you should sign in to your AdSense account.
- Click the Payments option.
- Click the Manage Settings option.
- You should scroll to the Payments Profile option.
- Click the US Tax Information (the United States Tax Information) option.
- Now get to the Manage Tax Info option.
Finally, you will reach a page designed to help you choose an appropriate form according to your tax situation.
You should follow the same set of instructions to learn about the tax withholding rates likely to be applied to your payments.
You are allowed to make edits if the address of your residence or office has changed. You are advised to keep your permanent residence and legal address the same in both sections.
The purpose is to help you receive your YETF (Year-End Tax Forms like 1099-MISC, 1099-K, 1042-S) at the correct address.
Resubmission of the W-9 form with an updated legal address is mandatory for YouTubers in the United States.
Visit Submitting your U.S. tax info to Google for the submission of tax information in your AdSense account.
If needed, visit the Tax requirements for MCNs and affiliate channels page for guidance about MCNs.
Do you want some more top tax filing tips for YouTubers?
Well, learn about some more things then. For example:
- Tax withholding.
- The impact of tax withholding on your income from YouTube.
- Learn to calculate expected tax withholding.
- What happens if you do not earn income from viewers based in the United States on your YouTube channel.
- Value learning about the criteria to know if you fall in the category of US-based creator or not.
- Will you have to pay taxes in the United States and your country? Learn about it.
- The list of reporting documents Google asks you to submit.
- Can you apply for tax refunds from your previous withholdings?
- Is this applicable to the rest of the AdSense earnings? Earnings except for YouTube.
Lastly, do not underestimate the value of a financial or tax advisor’s advice for filing your taxes from YouTube Income.
We can make it easy for you in many ways.Get in touch with us to make the most of these top tax filing tips for YouTubers from our experts in the best possible way.
