Taxes for Streamers: How to Handle Twitch, YouTube, and Other Streaming Income

If you’ve turned live streaming into a way to earn money, it’s important to understand your tax obligations. Whether you’re building a Twitch® channel, posting videos on YouTube®, or entertaining fans on other streaming platforms, any income earned from streaming is considered taxable by the IRS and must be reported on your tax return.

Not sure how to report streaming income on your taxes? It’s not as hard as it might sound. Let’s go over how streamers get paid, what tax forms you’ll need, common tax deductions for streamers, and how to make filing go smoothly this tax year.

At a glance

• Income from Twitch, YouTube, and other streaming platforms counts as taxable income.
• Streamers are self-employed individuals who owe both income tax and self-employment tax.
• Expect to receive Form 1099-NEC if you earn over $600 in streaming income in 2025.

Do streamers have to pay taxes?

Yep. If you earn money from Twitch streaming, YouTube, Kick®, or any other streaming business, it counts as taxable income. It doesn’t matter if streaming is your side hustle or full-time job — either way, the IRS classifies you as an independent contractor, meaning you’re considered self-employed.

That means two things:

1. You’ll pay income tax on your gross income (the total money you make from payouts, ads, sponsorships, PayPal tips, and other revenue streams).
2. You’ll also owe self-employment tax, which covers Social Security and Medicare taxes, just like an employer would normally withhold from an employee’s paycheck.

How much do streamers pay in taxes?

There’s no flat tax rate for streamers. Your tax liability depends on your taxable income after subtracting business expenses and write-offs. Most taxpayers in the U.S. fall somewhere between 10% and 37% when it comes to federal taxes — try using our tax bracket calculator to determine your tax rate based on your income.

In addition to federal income tax (and state income tax, if applicable), you’ll also owe 15.3% in self-employment tax to cover Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Tax Tip: If you expect to owe at least $1,000 in taxes, the IRS requires you to estimate and pay quarterly taxes throughout the tax year. TaxAct® can help you calculate and set these up when you file with us.

What forms do streamers need for tax filing?

Here are some tax forms you might run into when filing taxes as a streamer:

• Form 1099-NEC: Reports nonemployee compensation for informational purposes (your streaming revenue from subscriptions, Twitch Bits, ads, commissions, etc.)
• Form 1099-MISC: May cover other types of streaming income or Twitch income, like royalty income
• Form 1099-K: Reports payment transactions from third-party apps like PayPal (you might get one of these if you take your Twitch payouts through PayPal, for example)
• Schedule C (attached to Form 1040): Reports your self-employed streaming income and business expenses
• Schedule SE: Calculates your self-employment tax
• Form 1040-ES: Used to make estimated tax payments throughout the year
• Form 1042-S: Used instead of Form 1099-NEC to report U.S. source income paid to non-U.S. residents (common for international streamers filing U.S. taxes)

Don’t worry — TaxAct will guide you through filling out the right tax forms by asking detailed questions about your streaming business, payout types, and expenses to ensure everything gets reported correctly for tax purposes.

Tax deductions: Do streamers get tax write-offs?

Absolutely! Tax deductions are one of the biggest benefits of being self-employed. Deductible business expenses reduce your taxable income and lower your tax bill, so keep track of your streaming expenses and save receipts throughout the year.

Common write-offs for streamers include:

• Gaming and streaming equipment (microphone, camera, lighting, and other gear)
• Streaming software and subscriptions
• Home office expenses (can include a portion of your rent, utilities, and internet if you have a home office used exclusively for streaming)
• Video gaming purchases (if they’re part of your content)
• Marketing and promotion
• Tax preparation (tax advisor, CPA, or even the cost of filing with TaxAct)

Example: Twitch tax scenario

Let’s say Jordan earned $25,000 from Twitch in 2024. Her Twitch payouts go directly into her PayPal account. She also earned $4,000 in YouTube income and $3,000 in PayPal tips.

These are the tax forms she received:

• Form 1099-NEC from Twitch reporting her $25,000 income
• Form 1099-K from PayPal reporting the same $25,000 in Twitch income, plus an additional $1,000 in PayPal tips.
• Form 1099-NEC from YouTube reporting her $4,000 income

Altogether, that’s $30,000 of gross income. Even though she received two tax forms (1099-NEC and 1099-K) reporting her $25,000 Twitch income, she should NOT report that income twice.

Jordan’s business expenses included $2,000 for a new computer, $1,400 in streaming software and equipment, and $1,200 for the home office deduction. That’s $4,600 in total tax deductions.

Here’s how to figure Jordan’s taxable income:

$30,000 (gross income) – $4,600 (business expenses) = $25,400 net taxable income

Jordan reports all this on Schedule C, calculates self-employment tax with Schedule SE, and uses Form 1040-ES to make quarterly payments.

How to file streamer taxes with TaxAct

Filing taxes as a self-employed streamer differs from someone with a W-2 job, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. TaxAct Self-Employed can help you report your Twitch income, claim eligible tax deductions, and handle self-employment tax without needing to be a tax professional.

Here’s how the process works with TaxAct:

1. Go through the interview questions and input information from your Form 1099-NEC or other 1099 forms when prompted. We can also help you report other streaming income from sponsorships, PayPal tips, and affiliate revenue.
2. Next, we’ll ask about your business expenses (like equipment, streaming software, or a home office) to lower your taxable income.
3. TaxAct automatically calculates your self-employment tax (covering Social Security and Medicare).
4. If you owe quarterly taxes, we can help you estimate and schedule your Form 1040-ES payments.
5. You can review your return before submitting it. If everything looks good, we will e-file it directly with the IRS.

FAQs about streaming taxes

The bottom line

Being a Twitch streamer or content creator can be exciting, but the tax side can be confusing if you’re new to being self-employed. The key takeaways? Keep records of all payouts, track your business expenses, and don’t overlook potential tax write-offs. With the right tools and planning, you can manage Twitch taxes without unnecessary stress.

And when tax season rolls around, let TaxAct crunch the numbers for you. We stay on top of changing tax laws and walk you through the filing process step-by-step so you can spend less time worrying about taxes and more time earning that streaming income.

This article is for informational purposes only and not legal or financial advice.

All TaxAct offers, products and services are subject to applicable terms and conditions.

All trademarks not owned by TaxAct, Inc. that appear on this website are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by or of TaxAct, Inc.