Self-Employed Social Media Influencers: A Guide to Your Tax Return (and All the Free Stuff You Receive) Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by Ginita Wall Published Jul 23, 2018 - [Updated Mar 9, 2020] 3 min read Are you a social media influencer or a well-followed blogger? You may be having fun while working and promoting your favorite brand, but if you are being financially rewarded, the IRS says that you are a business – a self-employed, independent contractor, to be exact. Here is a guide for what you need to know about paying taxes as an influencer. How Influencer Income (And All That Free Stuff) is Taxed So, now what? Well, first of all, you need to figure out what your income is. If you are paid by the brands that you work with, then you will be issued a 1099-MISC at the end of the year if you are paid $600 or more by each of them. And even if you are paid less than the $600 required for a 1099 to be issued, this is still income that you have to report on your taxes. The value of free stuff you receive is also considered as income to you, such as free products or free trips. An exception is if you receive a sample product worth less than $100 for the purposes of evaluating and reviewing it. Deducting Travel and Other Expenses All this talk about claiming income on taxes, but what about all the expenses you incur to generate income? There is a bright side. Ordinary and necessary expenses that you pay in connection with generating your income are tax deductible. So if you need to travel to a location to promote a brand or attend an influencer event, if you pay for supplies, or if you foot the bill for a photo shoot, all of those expenses that are directly related to your income generation would be considered tax-deductible business expenses. Don’t forget about these commonly overlooked expenses that could lower your taxable income: Merchant Fees : Fees deducted by- Square, PayPal, Venmo, etc are deductible. App Subscription Fees: The monthly subscription fee paid to use the Apps that keep your online social presence running smoothly are deductible Sales Tax paid: Sales tax paid on items purchased and used in your business are deductible How to Avoid Paying Additional Taxes In general, if you are self-employed as an independent contractor and expect to owe more than $1,000 at tax-time, then you should pay quarterly estimated tax payments by the quarterly estimated tax deadlines to avoid any penalties. QuickBooks Self-Employed can help you easily track your income, expenses, and figure out your quarterly estimated taxes. When it comes time to file, your information can easily transfer to your TurboTax Self-Employed tax return. How to Easily Get Your Taxes Done Don’t worry about knowing these tax rules. TurboTax Self-Employed has “ExpenseFinder”; which helps you manage and automatically find industry-specific business deductions that might be missed. TurboTax has you covered and will ask you simple questions about you and your business and give you the tax deductions and credits you’re eligible for based on your answers. If you still have questions at tax-time, you can connect live via one-way video to a TurboTax Live CPA or Enrolled Agent to get your tax questions answered. A TurboTax Live CPA or Enrolled Agent can also review, sign, and file your return. Previous Post I Completed 30 Rideshares This Year. Am I Considered Self-Employed? Next Post Business Networking Tax Deductions Written by Ginita Wall More from Ginita Wall One response to “Social Media Influencers: A Guide to Your Tax Return (and All the Free Stuff You Receive)” Good info, thanks. I am curious if you can provide more information about the $100 exception for products evaluated or reviewed. Is that cumulative for the entire year or is that per-item? I received many items throughout the year to test or review. Individually they were less than $100 each but the total of all of them would be a couple thousand. If you have a section of law or an IRS publication I can reference I would appreciate it. Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Self-Employed Is Your Pet Insta Famous? Here’s What It Means fo… Self-Employed What Income and Expenses Do Social Media Influencers Ne… Self-Employed Do Creators Pay Taxes on Money Earned? Self-Employed How to File Self-Employment Taxes (Understanding the Fo… Self-Employed Podcast: Can I Deduct That? Tax Tricks for Influencers Self-Employed 1099-K Form Reporting Threshold Delay Announced For Tax… Tax Planning NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) Tax Preparation Chec… Self-Employed 1099-MISC vs 1099-NEC vs 1099-K: Understanding the Diff… Self-Employed What is the Form 1099-NEC? Self-Employed How to Report Self-Employment Income When You Have Mult…
Good info, thanks. I am curious if you can provide more information about the $100 exception for products evaluated or reviewed. Is that cumulative for the entire year or is that per-item? I received many items throughout the year to test or review. Individually they were less than $100 each but the total of all of them would be a couple thousand. If you have a section of law or an IRS publication I can reference I would appreciate it. Reply