Do I need to report my Artist Earnings as income?

All US citizens and resident aliens are required to fill out a W-9 when earning additional income. Your W-9 is used to report your earnings and send the necessary tax forms come tax season where eligible. We utilize Paypal to compensate artists for monthly earnings. As an online payments processor, Paypal is required to furnish, directly to the IRS, payment information on artists we pay through Paypal, that meet certain criteria. If you meet that criteria, Paypal will send you a 1099-K directly (through your Paypal account). This applies to both earnings from Artist Shops and Threadless.com.

You can find more detailed information about Paypal’s tax information reporting here:

Tax information reporting for online sellers

How PayPal reports sales to the IRS and sends 1099 tax statements

If you do not meet the 1099 threshold, you can review the payments you received for the prior tax year in your Artist Dashboard. Your reportable earnings for the current tax year (for most people) would be earnings from December of the year prior through November of the current year.

For example, your 2018 earnings are December 2017 earnings (which were paid to you in January of 2018) through November 2018 earnings (which were paid to you in December 2018). You do not need to include the current year December earnings since those aren't paid out to you the following year in January (and should be reported in your next year tax returns!).

Regardless of whether you meet the threshold required to automatically receive a 1099 from Paypal or not, it is your responsibility alone to report any income from Threadless and Artist Shops.

Threadless does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. We recommend you also consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors.