Taxes on webcamming

[Louise_c]

Hi,

I have been considering webcamming for a while, and have been researching the job in relation to taxes. I just wanted to query, if I broadcasted once or twice and earned money - but did not wish to continue with the job (for whatever reason) - would I still need to pay taxes on those small earnings? How much would I need to earn in order to be taxed on it?

Thanks in advance,

C

[Lambs]

C,

In theory, yes: a new source of income is reportable and taxable. However, if you only do this once or twice, then I imagine that your up-front costs - laptop, camera, platform fees, etc., may well exceed any income. (You can claim a proportion of your costs for buying equipment, being the proportion of business use. If you buy a webcam specifically for the work, then it will be 100% deductible through capital allowances (annual investment allowance) unless you also use it for private purposes. Likewise a laptop, although you may well use one that you own already, in which case you would claim a corresponding proportion of its value as a deduction from your income).

There is going to be a new kind of tax allowance from April 2017, whereby you can generate £1,000 of casual income without paying any tax on it. That's gross income, from memory, not net profit. But it would certainly help in situations like yours, I think. If you start now, however, then you will have to check your expenses do in fact exceed your income, in order to evaluate whether or not you have a legal obligation to notify. But then again, if your expenses did exceed your income, you could perhaps claim a loss.

Regards,

Lambs

[Lambs]

Sorry, to expand (I assumed you were already had taxable income)

How much you could earn before being taxable would depend on your other income, if any. If you are working and already earning more than the tax-free Personal Allowance of £11,000 then as I said in my earlier post, you would be taxable on any level of profits, if any.

If you have no other source of taxable income, then you could generate profits of £11,000 before being taxable. Strictly, it would still be reportable but if there is no tax to pay, then I think the penalties for failure to notify have no teeth.

Regards,

Lambs