Twitch streamers and paying taxes from donations

[Draculla]

Hello,

I would like to ask you about paying taxes from twitch donation. I know that you have to pay taxes from Twitch donations and it´s income of selfemployed people, because Twitch is not charity organisation.

But I would like to know, if this law applies in Europe, especially in European Union. Because "taxation" is different in US and EU.
For example in US what I read you have to pay taxes from twitch donations if your income is higher than 20 000 dollars in one tax year. So if in Europe its kinda different.

So in general if EU streamers have to pay taxes from donations or it´s a law only for US streamers for now.

Thanks for an advice.

[starkey]

If you earning an income from those donations then id say yes you would have to pay taxes on it

[Cosmic Janitor]

Generally if it is part of your income and you can't smuggle it around in a physical form you should think about taxation. Depending on the country they will easily find out about it anyway.

[Independent voter]

For example in US what I read you have to pay taxes from twitch donations if your income is higher than 20 000 dollars in one tax year. So if in Europe its kinda different.

Poor people in the US don't pay federal taxes so that's what they might mean for the under $20K. Basically we fill out a form and at the end if the form says to pay we pay.

But if you had a job where you made $33K and you got $20K from twitch then you add the two and now you have to pay a bunch of taxes.

So I guess it would depend on the tax laws in your country.

[Deleted]

All income is taxed above a certain threshold. You have to declare everything you earn.

Obviously with Twitch, it goes to bank accounts so it's easily traceable by your tax authorities.

Don't try to evade tax, it's very easy to get caught now because of new banking regulations and disclosure globally after the 2008 financial crisis.

[Deleted]

If you are earning more then 20k per year from twitch you should know a few successful streamers, ask them.

At this point you should probably also read up on self employment laws and regulations in your country, maybe get a lawyer and/or accountant on retainer.

Or watch that "dropped frames" podcast i think last week they went into detail on this subject.

[Gorsameth]

Hello,

I would like to ask you about paying taxes from twitch donation. I know that you have to pay taxes from Twitch donations and it´s income of selfemployed people, because Twitch is not charity organisation.

But I would like to know, if this law applies in Europe, especially in European Union. Because "taxation" is different in US and EU.
For example in US what I read you have to pay taxes from twitch donations if your income is higher than 20 000 dollars in one tax year. So if in Europe its kinda different.

So in general if EU streamers have to pay taxes from donations or it´s a law only for US streamers for now.

Thanks for an advice.

If you are a streamer who wonder about this I would advise you ask an accountant, while you can (and should) read up yourself its not something you wanne get wrong.
If your not a streamer yourself I dont see why you care.

[Deleted]

Each country within the EU has it's own tax laws, you can't just apply one set of taxes to the whole of Europe.

In the UK you must declare any additional income from a business (this is any endeavour which is done to make a profit) via self assessment forms. If you earn over a certain amount per year (£82,000) doing it, you will have to register for VAT and fill in your VAT returns, even if nothing you buy/sell has VAT attached to it, you still have to fill it in (even if the amount you pay ends up being £0). You have a "personal allowance" for income which is £10,600. If you earn under that, you do not have to pay any tax - but you should still keep full records of all income and declare it, because this will prove you weren't over the threshold. If you are already working for someone else, the amount of you make from livestreaming would get added to that, so if you make £20k from working in a store, and £500 from streaming, your total taxable income is £20,500. If you only livestreamed and were unemployed, you would be below the threshold.

Some people will argue that livestreaming is a hobby and not a business, and hobbies are not taxable. What defines a business can be different in every country, but general speaking - if it is something that you attempt to be professional at, or make any profits out of, then it's a business. If you livestreamed twice a year and put any donations towards your internet costs, I doubt they'd want to argue that it was a business. If you advertise that you stream 5 days a week between set hours then you are really offering an entertainment service.

Ultimately you need to look up the tax laws for your specific country - do not try and find EU wide tax laws.

[Ferg]

It irritates me to no end that I bust my ass 40+ hours a week just to make less than some nerds who happen to have been born into situations where they can feasibly sit on their ass all day playing vidya :/

Not relevant, it's just 6 AM and I'm salty.

[Deleted]

It irritates me to no end that I bust my ass 40+ hours a week just to make less than some nerds who happen to have been born into situations where they can feasibly sit on their ass all day playing vidya :/

Not relevant, it's just 6 AM and I'm salty.

bit offtopic.. but I think its funny you call them nerds while you are here posting on a video games forum....

Also yes they pay taxes, just like anyone with an income.
There is a picure up on the internet saying Forsen made 22.500 in a month. id say a good portion of that will go to taxes .

[Deleted]

bit offtopic.. but I think its funny you call them nerds while you are here posting on a video games forum....

Also yes they pay taxes, just like anyone with an income.
There is a picure up on the internet saying Forsen made 22.500 in a month. id say a good portion of that will go to taxes .

If he is in the USA & made that every month ($270k a year), he would pay 33% in taxes so $90k a year or $7500/month out of that $22500. If he was married and they filed taxes separately, this would jump up to 39%. So yup, a fair chunk of it.

[Ferg]

If he is in the USA & made that every month ($270k a year), he would pay 33% in taxes so $90k a year or $7500/month out of that $22500. If he was married and they filed taxes separately, this would jump up to 39%. So yup, a fair chunk of it.

Poor baby, only bringing home 180k a year. :/

[Sunnydruid]

After you earn, I think it is 600$ in the United States, you have to claim it to the IRS so they can tax you. If you don't than that is considered tax fraud and you can go to a jail and holy good god wait until you see that fine.

Pretty sure it is not considered a gift. However there may be loopholes in Europe for this - google the tax laws in your country to find out.

[Draculla]

If you are a streamer who wonder about this I would advise you ask an accountant, while you can (and should) read up yourself its not something you wanne get wrong.
If your not a streamer yourself I dont see why you care.

No, I´m not a streamer but I was interested.

[Deleted]

In the UK you'd also need to look into paying National Insurance contributions, because it can affect your state pension if you don't.

[Deleted]

get people to donate in a crypto currency. not as easy to trace, and or be audited / pay taxes on

[ro9ue]

It irritates me to no end that I bust my ass 40+ hours a week just to make less than some nerds who happen to have been born into situations where they can feasibly sit on their ass all day playing vidya :/

Not relevant, it's just 6 AM and I'm salty.

If that makes you salty, watch any good looking girl's stream. She could have no personality and be bad at gaming but dumb dudes will throw her $500 because she's cute or cuz cleavage. That's no knock on the girl btw, I'm sure I don't have a great personality for streaming and I'm not the best gamer, it's a dig at the dudes who do it.

[Draculla]

If you earning an income from those donations then id say yes you would have to pay taxes on it

But this was a question. I don´t know if Twitch donation earning is considered as a "gift" or as an "income" in my country. In Europe, there are alot of different countries, with alot of different laws, taxes and everything. And if the country is part of an European Union, there are another extra laws for European Union. So i don´t really know how it works here.

[Deleted]

Each country within the EU has it's own tax laws, you can't just apply one set of taxes to the whole of Europe.

In the UK you must declare any additional income from a business (this is any endeavour which is done to make a profit) via self assessment forms. If you earn over a certain amount per year (£82,000) doing it, you will have to register for VAT and fill in your VAT returns, even if nothing you buy/sell has VAT attached to it, you still have to fill it in (even if the amount you pay ends up being £0). You have a "personal allowance" for income which is £10,600. If you earn under that, you do not have to pay any tax - but you should still keep full records of all income and declare it, because this will prove you weren't over the threshold. If you are already working for someone else, the amount of you make from livestreaming would get added to that, so if you make £20k from working in a store, and £500 from streaming, your total taxable income is £20,500. If you only livestreamed and were unemployed, you would be below the threshold.

Some people will argue that livestreaming is a hobby and not a business, and hobbies are not taxable. What defines a business can be different in every country, but general speaking - if it is something that you attempt to be professional at, or make any profits out of, then it's a business. If you livestreamed twice a year and put any donations towards your internet costs, I doubt they'd want to argue that it was a business. If you advertise that you stream 5 days a week between set hours then you are really offering an entertainment service.

Ultimately you need to look up the tax laws for your specific country - do not try and find EU wide tax laws.

I dealt with two of these cases whilst working for the tax office...the £20000 would be PAYE income so the first £10,600 would be free and then the £9400 would be taxed the £500 would mean he would fill out a Self assessment form and would be liable also for additional NIC contributions,Thing is due to being SA he could use the games,consoles,mic and streaming software as business expenses and would prob pay nothing but the additional NIC. Had one where the guy used his streaming chair as a business expense.

[Drungan]

For Denmark :

Yes it is a income and therefor you need to pay tax there is a lower limit tho and you might need to look into that, you dont have to report a yearly donation of lets say 20$

also you need to report income from twitch subs

*BUUUUUUUUUT the taxman will never know !!!*

Yes he will.