Subscribe via RSS FeedRandom Post

Do You Declare Your Blog Income And Pay Taxes?

View Comments March 2, 2007 | Everton

Although very few blogs have followed my lead by publishing their site earnings, I did participate in some interesting offline discussions with bloggers who didn’t want to publicly share their earnings but were stunned by how much I’m making from Google Adsense.

I always knew that my theme was good for Adsense, but I didn’t realise just how good. For instance one well known site that has nearly 3x my traffic is only making 1/3 of what I do via Adsense.

What I did find interesting is that some sites didn’t want to share their earnings as they don’t declare their blogging income i.e. they aren’t paying their taxes. It made me wonder – are a lot of other bloggers doing the same? Do you declare your blog earnings on your tax returns, or do you hide it all away in your paypal account?

Tip: Click here to run a free scan for common PC errors

GD Star Rating
loading...

Tags: , , , , ,

Category: Blogging, Internet News

Next Post: »»

Prev Post: »»

About Everton: Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University.He also writes for Windows 7 News, Windows 8 News and One Tip A Day. View posts.

  • Dan
    I do not pay tax on my earnings - BECAUSE I DO NOT NO WHO AND HOW TO PAY.

    i believe my earnings are below the IRS threshold - which i have to pay as my site is hosted on US Servers.

    i do not know how to pay HMRC - or even if it is them i should pay
  • Nah, of course, whatever is declared (1099 for dividends, and whatever Google will send (I only sign up for AdSense in January) for their programs) I shall pay, no question. I’m talking about under-the-table earnings. ;)
  • billg
    I can't recall what the threshold is, but in the U.S. any earnings over "X" are reported to the IRS by the organization that pays you. If they send you a "1099" form, the IRS knows.

    It may not be worth it to the IRS to chase you down for nickels and dimes, but if you are audited for another reason, chances are it will hurt you.
  • P. S. That was daft of me though. I’m pretty sure some silly bastard will squeal on me to the IRS.

    Well, I hope you didn't use your real name!
  • Other thing to consider for US-residents is that by law there is certain amount of untaxable income, something around $400-600 per employer/employee/year. I think it depends on the state.

    In any case, if I could, I wouldn’t. Officially, in the whole of 2006 I made about $2,50 worth of dividends off of my PayPal MMF account, and that is it. I know, I’m a blasted insolent immigrant, took somebody’s job, and avoid taxes. Well, not entirely, I do pay sales tax, and petrol tax, since the roads (some of them are quite crappy, there goes suspension on my VW) are pretty much next to the only thing I get from US Government. :)

    P. S. That was daft of me though. I’m pretty sure some silly bastard will squeal on me to the <abbr title="Internal Revenue Service">IRS</abbr>. :)
  • Google, etc., do report your earnings to the IRS or the equivalent national tax agency, right?

    Not outside the US anyway
  • billg
    Google, etc., do report your earnings to the IRS or the equivalent national tax agency, right?
  • Well, considering I make about .19 cents a week, I do not...
  • I didn't declare mine when my income was low as it didn't seem worth it, but since it has recently got quite substantial I now declare mine as similarly I don't want to risk being convicted. And, you're right I don't think we will get many people saying they don't pay.....

    Another reason I decided to declare is because I'm self-employed now so I can shield a lot of my earnings (I have an accountant in the family) and adding the blog income to my main income means I pay a lower tax rate on that income as well (it's complicated)
  • I think this is a rather sensible topic and you probably will not get lots of feedback from bloggers who do not declare the money.

    I for one decided to pay taxes to be on the safe side. Could mean serious punishment in my country (heavy fines, jail).
blog comments powered by Disqus