Anyone who receives money from YouTube (e.g., through ads, subscriptions, sponsorships, etc.) must declare that income to the Inland Revenue and be taxed in two enacted ways.

In Greece, income from YouTube, as from other online activities, is considered income and is taxable. There are, however, two different cases depending on the income and the frequency of its receipt. The taxation of YouTube income in Greece depends mainly on the nature of the activity.

All content creators on YouTube who receive money from advertising, subscriptions, sponsorships or other sources are required to declare their income to tax authorities. The way you are taxed depends mainly on whether your activity is of a business nature or occasional. That is, if the creation of content on YouTube is a systematic effort for profit, then the income will be considered as business income. Conversely, if it is an occasional activity, the income will be taxed as income from casual employment.

More specifically, the AADE “sees” the following two types of income:

1. Business income: YouTuber with significant income is considered to be engaged in business activity. This implies the obligation to start a business, keep books and issue receipts/invoices. The income is taxed according to the self-employment tax scale (starting at 9% and increasing according to the amount of income).

2. Income from occasional employment: If the income is small and occasional up to 10,000 euros, it can be declared as “income from occasional employment”. In this case, the income is subject to self-taxation at a rate of 22%, but there is no need to “open” books with the tax office.

In any case, YouTubers are required to declare their income every year on their tax return. If there is income from advertising, there may be an obligation to pay VAT, especially if the income comes from intra-Community transactions (e.g. Google Ireland). And “professional” YouTubers will have to pay insurance contributions to EFKA.