Strange questions that sometimes need answering (or not asking in the first place really).

[AT86]

It strikes me as a huge grey area.

 

[Slugjc]

There is probably quite a lot of this sort of thing that vloggers and similar should be doing and likely don't.

Some need to learn how to make a decent vlog for a start.

 

[John_P]

Think if you were a part time theme park YouTuber you'd be silly not be registered as self employed doing it for the possible tax advantages it could bring.

Obvious issues would always be the taxman arguing what's constiting doing it for work, or just a day out/holiday with friends.

 

[rob666]

Think if you were a part time theme park YouTuber you'd be silly not be registered as self employed doing it for the possible tax advantages it could bring.

Obvious issues would always be the taxman arguing what's constiting doing it for work, or just a day out/holiday with friends.

The likelihood of the taxman arguing about anything with a self employed person is pretty remote.
They seem to be a bit rare generally since the early days of austerity...never had a single receipt or issue challenged in fifteen years of joyous self employment.
That volvo gearbox and torque converter receipt will come in handy this year after a long dry summer.
edit...the only one that bounced was trying to claim for speeding tickets...and that was by the accountant, not the taxman!

 

[John_P]

The likelihood of the taxman arguing about anything with a self employed person is pretty remote.
They seem to be a bit rare generally since the early days of austerity...never had a single receipt or issue challenged in fifteen years of joyous self employment.
That volvo gearbox and torque converter receipt will come in handy this year after a long dry summer.
edit...the only one that bounced was trying to claim for speeding tickets...and that was by the accountant, not the taxman!

They do go through periods of looking at and targeting specific industries when it comes to self employment, complete with national campaigns, surprised I've not seen a YouTuber/Twitch/influencer campaign if only to ensure people are correctly following the tax laws.

 

[BarryZola]

You're allowed to earn £1000 in the UK through Youtube and other platforms (such as Ebay profits) before you have to pay tax, even if you're already earning over the income tax threshold (I believe it comes under the 'trading allowance' heading if you want to check it out). Once you go over the £1000 allowance you have to file a self assessment with HMRC. I've recently had to do that for my earnings through Youtube in the last financial year. However, if you state that you're using that allowance, you CAN'T then also claim business expenses such as camera's, computers, travel etc (you have to register as a business to do that). With that in mind, unless you're earning quite a bit more than the £1000 allowance it's not really worth registering as a business and claiming expenses. I only earned around £2000 (97%ish from my non-Alton Towers channel) on top of my day job so it hasn't become worth it for me to go down the business route and my earnings have dropped a bit and I'm losing a bit of interest in the whole thing anyway due to the competition from AI slop taking eyes off legit channels anyway. I think I'd have to be consistently growing from now on to bother going down the business route and start claiming expenses etc. Unlikely for me personally. The big Youtube channels should all be registered as businesses if they have any sense. Shawn and similar sized channels will obviously be doing so. But yeah, hope that gives a little bit of insight.

 

[Slugjc]

I often think about those who are now full time doing this stuff and how much they actually earn with expenses and all that. The money can't be that fantastic.

Not only that, how do you keep the interest going? At what point does the hobby, become a job and burden? Costs start impacting life?

I'm no fan of the theme park vlogger, if you can earn enough to do it, fair enough.

 

[BarryZola]

Not only that, how do you keep the interest going? At what point does the hobby, become a job and burden? Costs start impacting life?

You can tell the ones where it's a job for them. When it gets to that stage the algorithm doesn't allow you to back-off and take a break, as then you risk the next video not getting out to as many viewers. The person that always gets mentioned is the best example. Same park, different week, has to make a vlog even if there's nothing to report. As long as it's content that's put out to keep the algo happy and gets enough loyal viewers. Starting a family? No worries, go out almost every single day in this country and abroad. Where's the long term prize when you're missing out on quality time with your newborn child?

And there are many others. I don't blame them for making money from travelling around instead of having a boss and doing hard graft. My issue has always been that they're disingenous as they pretend to be loving what they're doing when I know that they're bored and just doing it for the sake of content and feeding the algo and their earnings. Fundamentally I just don't like fake people.

 

[Slugjc]

You can tell the ones where it's a job for them. When it gets to that stage the algorithm doesn't allow you to back-off and take a break, as then you risk the next video not getting out to as many viewers. The person that always gets mentioned is the best example. Same park, different week, has to make a vlog even if there's nothing to report. As long as it's content that's put out to keep the algo happy and gets enough loyal viewers. Starting a family? No worries, go out almost every single day in this country and abroad. Where's the long term prize when you're missing out on quality time with your newborn child?

And there are many others. I don't blame them for making money from travelling around instead of having a boss and doing hard graft. My issue has always been that they're disingenous as they pretend to be loving what they're doing when I know that they're bored and just doing it for the sake of content and feeding the algo and their earnings. Fundamentally I just don't like fake people.

It took me a long while to get you tube to stop suggesting he who has been mentioned. It was only because I watched a couple of yours that it came up.

I have just looked at my YouTube account. The channels I engage the most all have 1 thing in common. They are faceless. Ok they add their own personality, but it keeps about the subject, not themselves. Well researched and have taken the time to make it short and sharp.

With theme park vlogs, especially around opening days. The need to get videos out first has taken over. Why do they all, have a amateur local news presenter vibe. What's the harm in filming, enjoying the day, think about what is needed to be said. Then getting back to the PC and editing the footage, doing a good voice over so it becomes something decent to view.