Taxing, even for the Influencer

Social media influencers and bloggers, while incredibly useful at their specific influence, they aren't able to avoid Uncle Sam.

Being self-employed has a ton of perks and setting your schedule, zero commutes, and flexibility in total to work as much or as little depending on workload.  This type of employment does require a ton of organization and accurate bookkeeping to ensure readiness come tax time.  

There are various things you'll want and need to keep track of for IRS purposes.  Many are straightforward, such as office supplies, writing seminars, website fees, software, and job-related travel expenses.  There are some, however, that are a bit more obscure. 

As a social media influencer, you're considered an independent contractor, and you will receive a 1099-MISC if your income is over $600.  If you're given products as apart of payment, you must report that income at market value.  Brand partnerships are also subject to taxation, and you will need to include what revenue was generated as apart of that partnership.  Also, if a brand pays you money for being the creator of content for a blog post or video, this is something that should be included.  These are just small examples of some of the items that need to be apart of your tracking system and filing process.

The best advice is to keep track of everything you spend, use, and need to effectively do your job and organize it effectively.  When tax season rolls around, the experts at Lewis CPA are happy to help you make sense of all the do's and don't for filing purposes!