This is one of those things nobody tells you until you’re already in trouble with it. So let’s fix that.
If you made $400 or more in net earnings from freelance creative work — selling art commissions, producing beats, teaching tutorials, doing gig work on the side — the IRS requires you to file a tax return. That’s not a suggestion. It’s the law, and it applies even if it’s just a side hustle, even if it’s part-time, even if you’re a teenager.
And here’s the part that surprises most people: you may also owe something called self-employment tax. When you work a regular job, your employer handles certain taxes automatically — Social Security and Medicare get pulled from your paycheck before you ever see the money. But when you’re freelancing, there’s no employer doing that for you. So the IRS generally collects it separately, on top of your regular income tax. That’s the self-employment tax.
The $400 threshold is based on your *net* earnings — meaning what’s left after you subtract your business expenses from what you brought in. So if you made $500 in commissions but spent $150 on supplies to do that work, your net might be under $400. But if your net clears that line, you’ve got a filing obligation.
None of this means you’re going to owe a huge amount of money. A lot of people at this income level end up owing very little, or sometimes nothing, once deductions are factored in. But you still have to file. Not filing when you’re supposed to is where the real trouble starts.
If you’re a dependent on a parent or guardian’s tax return, your overall tax situation may be slightly different — but the $400 self-employment filing requirement still applies to you. When in doubt, check with a tax preparer or use the IRS’s free tools.
If you got paid through platforms like PayPal, Venmo, or similar apps, those payments still count as income. The IRS specifically calls out gig and side work as taxable, regardless of how you were paid or how informal the arrangement felt.
The smart move? Keep a simple record of everything you earn and everything you spend on your creative work throughout the year. It doesn’t need to be fancy — a spreadsheet or even a notes app works. That way when tax season rolls around, you actually know where you stand.