Compliance
Are You a YouTube Performing Artist for Income Purposes
Did you know there maybe tax consequences for people who generate income from YouTube?
If you are thinking of giving up your current job and making a living from YouTube make sure you talk to a your tax accountant before taking the step.
There is a difference between income derived from a hobby and income derived from carrying on a business and generating income from that business which is taxable. Referring to the Australian Taxation Office – ATO ID 2014/41, people who earn income from YouTube will be treated as “performing artist for income purposes”.
The Facts as presented in this Interpretative Decision are as follows:
“The taxpayer carries on a business of creating cooking and baking videos for upload onto YouTube.
The taxpayer produces, designs, edits, scripts, voices over, films and acts as presenter in the videos for the purpose of up loading onto YouTube.
The taxpayer receives income from Google for their YouTube videos based on a share of advertising revenue and the number of views their videos receive.”
It is important to mention that, if you are deemed to be a performing artist then you could be eligible for income-averaging concessions if you had unusually high income in a particular year.
What you need to keep in mind in today’s world is that income from this source can grow quickly if your productions suddenly takeoff and you become a hit. I have clients who take up hobbies that often never become anything other than a hobby, but with the advent of YouTube and other forms of electronic media the capacity to turn into an overnight sensation has increased significantly over recent years.
If you are serious about going down the road of producing YouTube videos or the like (for income) make sure you seek professional advice before you go down this path. If you do not seek the appropriate advice then you may find yourself facing significant tax liabilities. It is not all bad news though because of the income-averaging concessions available as mentioned earlier.
Balanix Solutions is more than happy to provide guidance if going down this road is where you see your future. Like all business adventures success is based upon good planning and strategies and not managing bush fires once they are raging.
David Balwin
FCPA | Registered Tax Agent | Business Advisor
Balanix Solutions – Registered Tax Agent, Accountant, Business Advisor, Bookkeeping.
Situated in Strathpine on Brisbane North, we partner with our clients to assist them in their accounting, business management and bookkeeping needs. Our clients vary in industries from professional services (such as law, vet and dentist) to the trades (mechanic, bricklaying, plasterer etc), hospitality and retail. Are clients are located in the Pine Rivers area (including Brendale, Lawnton, Albany Creek and Eatons Hill) through to Kallangur, Petrie, North Lakes and Caboolture, as well as Brisbane South, the Gold Coast and various other parts of Queensland.
Calling Company Officeholders – Keeping up with ASIC requirements
Are you a company officeholder? If you are, then you would know that there are Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) compliance requirements that you are responsible for.
There are two ways to manage your ASIC requirements – do it yourself or interact with ASIC through an ASIC Registered Agent.
If you do it yourself, ASIC have just released new company officeholder user guides which guide you through common online transactions.
ASIC is encouraging lodging online as part of their vision to move their transactions online. Online interaction offers you many benefits such as no paperwork to print, postage costs, updates can be made at your own convenience, plus when you lodge online most changes are made to the register immediately.
The new user guides provide step by step instructions, including:
- How to register for our online service
- Logging in
- Changing company details
- Appointing or ceasing a registered agent
Download ASIC’s guide here company officeholder user guides .
Registered Agents (Company) act as intermediaries between ASIC and Australian companies to assist companies in meeting their lodgement obligations under the Corporations Act 2001.
Ultimately the officeholders of a company are responsible for meeting their lodgement obligations, however, as a Registered Agent (Company) our role is to act on behalf of the company to help it meet its statutory duties including:
- notifying ASIC within 28 days of any changes to the company’s details,
- making sure the company reviews its annual statement, as well as,
- encouraging the on time payment of fees owed to ASIC.
Balanix Solutions offers ASIC Registered Agent services – if you would like to know more, please call us today on 3264 4783.
Balanix Solutions – Accountant, Business Advisor, Bookkeeping.
Situated in Strathpine on Brisbane North, we partner with our clients to assist them in their accounting, business management and bookkeeping needs. Our clients vary in industries from professional services (such as law, vet and dentist) to the trades (mechanic, bricklaying, plasterer etc), hospitality and retail. Are clients are located in the Pine Rivers area (including Brendale, Lawnton, Albany Creek and Eatons Hill) through to Kallangur, Petrie, North Lakes and Caboolture, as well as Brisbane South, the Gold Coast and various other parts of Queensland.
