Because if you earn money from your blog, you are.

This post will be most relevant to UK tax law as that’s where I’m based, but no matter where you are in the world, you may need to look into this, and ask the same question.

As payment for my various money making schemes is now beginning to come in, I thought I’d best check with the tax office whether or not it was taxable income (I was 99% sure of the answer!). A little background: we had a bit of a life change 18 months ago, and as a result I gave up work to look after the children full-time, and registered with the tax office accordingly.

So the upshot of today’s telephone conversation with the tax people is that I am now considered self-employed, and must register my earnings with them. The good news is that unless I earn over £4,500 ($9000) this year I won’t have to pay any tax. Anything over that amount will be taxable, and if I manage that, I guess it will be a relative sign of success! The key point is that if I didn’t register and declare my earnings, and they found out (which wouldn’t be difficult) I would be liable for heavy fines.

So if you’re in the UK, and earning money from your blog, then by law you should declare those earnings. You can be employed AND self-employed at the same time, so even if you have a full-time job as well, then you should declare.

If you’re elsewhere in the world, I strongly advise you to check your local tax laws, and make sure you are not leaving yourself open to prosecution.

I don’t like the thought of giving up my blog earnings in tax, but I like the thought of fines even less. Are you already aware of your local tax laws? How do they differ from the UK?