How to File Taxes if You Have a Blog

If your blog generates income, you might need to report it on your family’s annual tax return. Here is a quick Q&A to get you started. If you do your own taxes at home, my personal recommendation is FreeTaxUSA, which has all the federal forms you need at no additional cost. They guarantee accuracy 100% and offer free customer support.

What kinds of income and expenses do I need to report? Report any income that you receive from your blog whether it’s actual money or products/services received in barter. On the flip side, report your expenses. This could include advertising, products you bought to review or give away, website fees such as hosting and spam blockers, electronic devices you use for your blog and supplies like paper, ink, cartridges and the bag you carry your laptop in. When in doubt, ask a tax professional, but the general rule is that you can deduct any expense which is directly related to your blog. If you blog at home, you may be able to deduct things like your mortgage/rent/utilities IF your “blogging space” is used exclusively and regularly for business. So if you blog in your bedroom, but you also sleep and eat in there, it’s a no-go. To claim the deduction you’ll need to have a room/space/building at your residence that is used 100% for blogging.

One of the easiest ways to keep track of your income and expenses throughout the year as a blogger is with a simple Google spreadsheet. Add items throughout the year instead of trying to add everything up during tax season.

Do I need to save receipts? Yes and no. With so much being electronic or digital these days, receipts are not always available. But you do need to be able to have proof of the income and expenses you are claiming. If you bought a camera to review on your tech blog, save the email confirmation. If you received $50 from an advertiser, save the check stub or simply refer to the Paypal transaction ID number.

Which form should I use? Most bloggers report self-employment income on a Schedule C. For years, I used TurboTax to file but after they started charging for extra forms, I switched to FreeTaxUSA and never looked back. Who wants to pay for a form you can get for free from the IRS? Not me! Especially if I’m doing all the work!

How do I pay the taxes I owe? You’ll need to make quarterly tax payments if your blog profit will exceed $1,000 this year. This post will help walk you through the process. If you had no tax liability last year, or you don’t anticipate earning more than $1,000 in blog income this year, you probably won’t need to make your payments throughout the year; you can just figure out what is owed on this year’s return and either deduct it from your refund or pay the IRS when you file (it helps to set aside a small amount from your blog earnings during the year for this purpose).

Let me know if you have any blogging tax questions, and I’ll try to help if I can. I’m not a tax professional, but I’ve done returns on behalf of family and friends for over seven years and have picked up a lot of tips and useful information.

Happy blogging!