Do you earn money from blogging? If so, you may need to pay taxes on that income. We’ve compiled this handy guide to help you out.
How do I declare income from blogging?
Most bloggers who earn income are either:
Self-employed
An independent contractor
An employee
Most bloggers fall into the independent contractor category, managing blogs and content for themselves and/or clients. Self-employed bloggers usually earn money from advertisements, affiliate marketing, selling products or services through their blogs, or writing sponsored content. Regardless, you’ll report any blogging income on Schedule C. You may also be able to deduct related business expenses.
If you earned more than $600 in one calendar year through a business or company, you should get a 1099-NEC reporting the income. If you earned more than $5,000 through a third-party network like Venmo or PayPal, you should receive a 1099-K. Those are the 2024 rates, of course; for the 2025 tax year, the threshold for receiving a 1099-K will drop to $600.
If you work as an independent contractor making money from freelance writing for various clients, you should receive a 1099-NEC from any client who pays you more than $600. If you received less than this but your net income is over $400, you’re still required to declare your income on Schedule C. Remember to subtract business expenses.
Let’s say you’re employed by a company, and blogging is simply one of your job duties. In that case, you should receive a Form W-2 from the company reporting your income. Income taxes will be withheld, and you won’t have to worry about paying Social Security or Medicare, but you won’t be able to deduct any business expenses, as you won’t be considered self-employed.
Which business expenses can I deduct?
If you’re self-employed or freelancing, you can deduct expenses to lower the amount of taxes you owe. Here’s the catch: a business expense must be an expense that is considered ordinary and necessary to running a business. This means it must be an expense that’s commonly accepted in your area of work, and that it directly contributes to your business.
Some of the business expenses you might encounter while running a blog include:
Home office: if your house includes a room that you use exclusively for your blog, you can claim the home office deduction. This involves calculating the size of the room in square feet, then either using the simplified method ($5 per square foot with a maximum square footage of 300) or the regular method (calculate your actual expenses for the tax year and apply the percentage of your home used for businesses to calculate the related costs). The regular method involves keeping track of real estate taxes, rent or mortgage interest, repairs and maintenance, internet, utilities, and possibly insurance.
Equipment: if you bought computers, printers, paper, ink, cameras, lighting, or other expenses to be used in your blogging business, you can claim those expenses.
Subscriptions, dues, membership fees: if you subscribe to any publications, software, or other services related to your blog, you can probably claim those as well.
Hosting and domain costs: all your blog’s operating costs, such as hosting fees, domain registration, website themes, and software packages, are considered deductible expenses.
Advertising and marketing: marketing costs are also deductible, which includes things like SEO services, social media advertising, and sponsored blog posts.
Training costs: any money you pay for workshops, courses, webinars, and conferences can also be deducted, if those are taken to learn more about your industry, stay up to date on industry developments, and increase your competitiveness.
Retirement: if you contribute to a self-employed retirement account, you may be able to deduct that money from your taxes.
If you need help filing taxes on blogging income, use TaxGlobal to connect with an experienced tax pro who can guide you through the process.