What a Twitch or live streamer in Canada reports and deducts, from subs, bits and donations to the computer, webcam and ring light you stream with, with every rule linked to its government source. The fifth post in our content creator series, after YouTube creators, Instagram creators, TikTok creators and podcasters.
For most Canadian streamers, streaming income is business income: your share of subscriptions and bits, donations and tips, ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate commissions and the fair market value of free products all go on Form T2125, including money paid from outside Canada. The CRA’s own example of a Twitch streamer lists every one of them. You can deduct reasonable costs you incur to earn it, business part only: the computer, monitors, webcam, microphone and lights through capital cost allowance, the non-personal part of your internet, software and moderators or editors you pay. Personal expenses are not deductible. Register for the GST/HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000. As a reference point, Statistics Canada data built from tax returns shows independent artists, writers and performers spending on average 54% of revenue on expenses.
What Streaming Income Do You Have to Report?
The CRA’s page for social media influencers names Twitch among the platforms, and its list of the ways creators earn money reads like a streamer’s month. For most channels that means:
- Subscriptions, your share of each channel subscription, including the subs a viewer gifts to other viewers. The CRA lists subscriptions; in our reading, a gifted sub is a subscription someone else paid for, and your share of it is income the same way.
- Bits and cheers, your share of the virtual goods viewers spend in your chat. The CRA’s example calls bits a virtual good and counts them as income.
- Donations and tips sent through the platform, a payment app or a donation page. The CRA lists tips, gifts and donations from followers.
- Ad revenue from ads that run on your streams and videos.
- Sponsorships and brand deals, affiliate and referral links in your panels or chat, and the free products a sponsor sends you, at fair market value.
- Tournament prizes, if you compete. The CRA’s example includes a prize in income.
As a streamer resident in Canada you report all of it, monetary and non-monetary, earned in and outside Canada. A sole proprietor reports it as self-employment income on Form T2125; an incorporated channel reports it on the corporation’s T2 return with Schedule 125. The CRA’s platform economy page adds that you contribute to the Canada Pension Plan if you are over 18 and earn more than $3,500 a year, and that self-employed creators pay both the employee and employer parts on Schedule 8. Our general guide for content creators covers the basics for every platform.
The CRA’s example, Saddaf, is a gamer who streams on Twitch and YouTube. In one year the platform pays Saddaf 50% of each channel subscription, $4,000 in total. Saddaf also earns $1,000 from their share of bits, $400 that fans send to a payment account, $1,500 of commissions from a link on the channel, $1,100 of ad revenue on video, $5,000 for pictures sold to sporting companies and a $50,000 tournament prize, and receives $900 of free sporting goods. The CRA says all of it goes in Saddaf’s income, and that Saddaf can claim capital cost allowance on $4,000 of computer equipment and the non-personal part of a fibre optic Internet connection.
Which Industry Code Does a Streamer Use?
Form T2125 asks for an industry code for your main business activity. The CRA points you to Statistics Canada’s NAICS list, or to the codes in your tax software if you file electronically. That list has no entry for streamers, gamers or esports (we searched it on 10 November 2026). What it does have:
- 711512, Independent actors, comedians and performers, for freelancers who perform in artistic and cultural productions. Its examples include freelance broadcasters, independent disc jockeys and independent celebrity spokespersons. It fits a streamer whose main work is entertaining an audience live, on camera or on the mic.
- 516212, Media streaming distribution services is the code for businesses that run a streaming service. Statistics Canada’s own exclusions for it send independent performing to the independent artists, writers and performers group, so it is not the code for a person streaming on someone else’s platform.
In our reading, most streamers fit 711512. A channel that earns mainly from something else, such as prize money from competitive play or selling its own products, may fit another code. The CRA asks for the code that most closely describes your main activity, so we pick the code with you, based on how your channel actually earns.
Streaming Expenses at a Glance
The CRA’s rule from Guide T4002 is that you can deduct a reasonable expense you incur to earn income, only the business part of it, and never a personal expense. This table applies that rule to the costs of running a stream. The GST/HST row applies only if you are registered for the GST/HST.
| Cost | What a sole proprietor can claim |
|---|---|
| Gaming or streaming computer | CCA, Class 50 at 55%, business part |
| Monitors, webcam and stream deck | CCA, Class 50 at 55%, in our reading |
| Microphone and lights | CCA: Class 8 at 20%, or Class 12 for a small tool under $500, in our reading |
| Gaming chair and desk | CCA, Class 8 at 20% as furniture |
| Games bought to stream | Class 12 software, business part, in our reading |
| Streaming software, overlays and alerts | The business part, as a yearly cost, in our reading |
| Moderators, editors and designers you pay | Reasonable fees |
| A room in your home used to stream | The workspace share, if it meets the CRA conditions |
| Internet and cellphone airtime | The business percentage (the non-personal part) |
| Travel to events and tournaments | The business part, meals at 50% |
| Accounting and tax return fees | Deductible |
| GST/HST you pay (registrants) | Input tax credit for the business part |
The CCA classes and rates are the CRA’s; which class a piece of gear falls in and the rows marked as our reading are our interpretation, explained in the next sections.
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How Do You Deduct a Streaming Computer, Webcam and Lights?
Gear that lasts is not deducted in the year you buy it. The CRA’s page on other business expenses says that if you buy a computer or other such equipment, you cannot deduct the cost; you claim capital cost allowance (CCA) instead, a yearly write-off by class. From the CRA’s classes of depreciable property:
- Class 50, 55%: general-purpose computer equipment and the equipment that works with it. In our reading, that includes your streaming computer, monitors, a webcam and a stream deck. Under proposed changes, new Class 50 property acquired after April 15, 2024 and available for use before 2027 is eligible for a 100% first-year deduction.
- Class 8, 20%: furniture, tools costing $500 or more and other equipment you use in the business. A gaming chair and desk are furniture. In our reading, a microphone or lights of $500 or more belong here too.
- Class 12, 100%: tools that cost less than $500, and software that is not systems software. The CRA excludes electronic data processing equipment from it. In our reading, a microphone, a ring light or a key light under $500 can be a small tool here, and a game you buy to stream is software.
Under the accelerated investment incentive, property that becomes available for use from 2024 to 2027 can be claimed at its class rate in the first year, without the usual half-year rule. Only the business part counts: if your streaming computer is also the computer you play on for fun, claim the business share. Our guide to buying equipment before December 31 covers timing.
- In 2026 you buy a computer for $2,200, used 80% for the stream, plus two monitors, a webcam and a stream deck for $840, a microphone for $300, a ring light for $160 and a gaming chair for $450, all used only for the stream.
- Computer and the gear that works with it, Class 50 at 55%: business part $2,600, CCA $1,430, or $2,600 if the proposed 100% first-year deduction applies.
- Microphone and ring light as small tools in Class 12: $460.
- Gaming chair, Class 8 at 20%: $90.
- First-year CCA: $1,980, or $3,150 with the proposed rule.
The numbers and the class for each item are our example; the rates are the CRA’s.
Can You Claim the Room You Stream From?
A room at home you stream from can give you a share of home costs, if the space meets one of the CRA’s two business-use-of-home conditions: it is your principal place of business, or you use it only for the business and regularly meet clients or customers there. For most streamers it is the first condition that matters. You claim a reasonable share, such as the area of the room over the area of your home, of costs like heat, electricity, insurance and rent or mortgage interest. If the room is also your bedroom or where the family plays, the share is smaller. The claim cannot create or increase a business loss. Our home office guide has the calculation.
In our reading, a green screen, acoustic panels and lights you can take with you are equipment, while work built into your home, such as new walls or wiring, is part of the home and not a yearly expense.
What Else Can a Streamer Deduct?
- Internet. The CRA’s streamer example deducts the non-personal part of the Internet connection, and line 9220 lets you deduct the percentage of cellphone airtime you use to earn business income. Our cell phone and internet guide covers the business percentage.
- Software, overlays and alerts. In our reading, streaming tools, overlay and alert services, music licences and editing subscriptions you pay monthly or yearly are a cost of that year, business part only. Software you buy outright is Class 12 on the CRA’s class list.
- Games. In our reading, a game you buy to stream is a business cost, business part only. A game you also play off stream for fun is partly personal, and games you only play for fun are personal.
- Moderators, editors and designers. Reasonable fees you pay a moderator, a clip editor or a designer for your panels and emotes are business costs. If you hire employees, their pay goes on line 9060 with payroll deductions. Amounts you pay yourself are not deductible.
- Advertising. Promoting your channel is advertising, line 8521. Guide T4002 sets Canadian content or ownership requirements for advertising, and says they do not apply if you advertise on foreign websites.
- Travel to events. Fares, hotels and meals on trips to tournaments, conventions or sponsor events are travel expenses, business part only, with meals at 50%. See our business travel guide.
- Accounting fees. Fees for outside professional advice, including accounting and preparing your tax and GST/HST returns, are deductible on line 8860.
What Are Typical Expense Ratios for a Streamer?
No one publishes an expense ratio for streamers. The closest real figures are Statistics Canada’s Financial Performance Data, built from the T1 and T2 tax returns of small businesses with $30,000 to $5 million of revenue, as captured by the CRA. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada publishes them by industry group, so we show the group that holds the code above: independent artists, writers and performers (7115, which holds 711512, 15,938 businesses in 2024):
Independent artists, writers and performers
- Total expenses: 53.6% of revenue on average
- Middle half of businesses: 32% to 54%
- Most profitable quarter spends 11.6%
- Average net profit: 46.4%
The biggest lines
- Labour and commissions: 13.9%
- Other expenses: 13.4%
- Purchases and sub-contracts: 10.2%
- Amortization: 2.1%, utilities and telephone: 1.3%
A streamer's year
- A year you buy a new computer: more CCA than 2.1%
- Paid moderators and editors: the labour line
- Not a CRA limit: you claim what you actually spent
The middle half is the two middle quarters of businesses ranked by profit margin. ISED rates the total expenses figure as good. The group also holds writers, musicians, painters and actors, so a streamer’s mix of costs is not the same; we read it as a range, not a target. These are averages, not a CRA rule or a limit on what you can claim. We use them to sense-check a year: when a channel’s costs sit far outside the range, we look at why before the return is filed.
When Does a Streamer Need a GST/HST Number?
The CRA says that online content published by influencers on platforms is generally a taxable supply. Under its page on when to register for the GST/HST, you have to register once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. For a sole proprietor that total is revenue before expenses from worldwide taxable supplies, including zero-rated ones, so payouts and sponsorships from outside Canada count toward the $30,000.
Not every amount is a taxable supply. In the CRA’s Twitch example, the test is the total taxable supplies excluding the $50,000 won from the online football tournament, so we sort your income by type before we decide. Once registered, you charge the GST/HST where it applies and claim input tax credits for the GST/HST you pay on business costs. Guide RC4022 lists advertising services to a non-resident person that is not registered under the normal GST/HST registration regime among the services that may be zero-rated, so we check sponsor deals with foreign brands one by one. See our guide to the $30,000 small supplier rule.
How Is Income From US Platforms and Brands Reported?
Most streaming platforms and many sponsors are US companies, and payouts often come in US dollars. The Canadian side is set by the CRA’s foreign tax credit page:
- Report it in Canadian dollars. Use the Bank of Canada exchange rate for the day the amount arose, or the average annual rate when you were paid at different times during the year.
- If foreign tax was withheld, report the full amount and claim the foreign tax credit on Form T2209 for the federal credit (line 40500) and Form T2036 for the provincial one. A tax treaty may affect whether you are eligible.
- Keep each payout statement and sponsor invoice, with the currency and any tax withheld.
What Records Should a Streamer Keep?
The CRA’s influencer page asks you to keep track of your income and expenses, including sales to buyers in Canada and other countries. For a stream, that means:
- Platform payouts: every payout statement, split into subs, bits, ads and other revenue, with the currency.
- Donations and tips: the statements from the payment app or donation page.
- Sponsors and affiliates: contracts, invoices and proof of payment.
- Free products and prizes: a list with the date and fair market value, and the tournament terms.
- Gear and games: receipts with purchase dates, and how you set the business share of your computer, internet and home.
- People you pay: moderator, editor and designer invoices.
- GST/HST: the tax you charged and the tax shown on your receipts.
How Can We Help Streamers?
We prepare your personal return with Form T2125, including subs, bits, donations, ad revenue and sponsorships paid in US dollars, reported in Canadian dollars, and your capital cost allowance. We keep your books through the year, register you for the GST/HST when you need it and file the returns, and if your channel is incorporated, we prepare the corporation’s T2 return. Fees are fixed and quoted up front.
If you want your channel’s numbers set up the right way before tax season, see our packages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Twitch income taxable in Canada?
Yes. If you live in Canada, your share of subscriptions and bits, donations and tips, ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate commissions, prizes and the value of free products are all income, including money paid from outside Canada. Most streamers report it as business income on Form T2125.
Are donations from viewers taxable?
Yes, when you stream as a business. The CRA lists tips, gifts and donations from followers as income, and in its Twitch example the money fans send to a payment account is included in income.
Can I deduct my gaming computer?
Yes, the business part. A computer is claimed through capital cost allowance in Class 50 at 55%, not deducted all at once. If you also use it to play for fun, claim only the business share. The CRA example claims capital cost allowance on computer equipment used to stream.
Which industry code does a streamer use?
There is no code named for streamers or gamers. The closest for most is 711512, Independent actors, comedians and performers, whose examples include freelance broadcasters. If you file electronically, use the codes in your tax software. We pick the code with you.
When does a streamer have to register for the GST/HST?
When taxable revenue passes $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Revenue from outside Canada counts toward the $30,000, including zero-rated revenue. In the CRA example, a tournament prize is left out of the total.
Reviewed on 10 November 2026. The income, expense, capital cost allowance, GST/HST and foreign tax credit rules and the examples marked as the CRA’s are from the Canada Revenue Agency, the industry codes from Statistics Canada, and the expense ratios from Statistics Canada data published by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, linked beside each fact and listed below. Points marked as our reading are our interpretation, not CRA wording.
Content Creators
Accounting for influencers, YouTubers, streamers and podcasters: income from every platform, deductions and the GST/HST
T1 Personal Tax
Personal tax returns, including the business statement with your subs, bits, donations and CCA
Bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping with platform payouts, donations, sponsor payments, equipment and GST/HST input tax credits recorded the right way
Sources
- Canada Revenue Agency, Social media influencers (Taxes and the platform economy) (page dated 2025-01-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Understanding your tax obligations (Taxes and the platform economy) (page dated 2025-01-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Industry codes (page dated 2026-08-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Statistics Canada, NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0, 711512 Independent actors, comedians and performers (page dated 2024-10-23, checked 10 November 2026)
- Statistics Canada, NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0, 516212 Media streaming distribution services (exclusions) (page dated 2024-10-23, checked 10 November 2026)
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Financial performance, Independent artists, writers and performers (7115), data year 2024 (page dated 2026-09-08, checked 10 November 2026)
- Statistics Canada, Financial Performance Data (FPD), survey description (page dated 2026-01-19, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Guide T4002, Chapter 3, Expenses (page dated 2026-04-16, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Other business expenses (page dated 2026-08-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Classes of depreciable property (page dated 2026-08-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Accelerated investment incentive (page dated 2025-07-21, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Business-use-of-home expenses (page dated 2026-08-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Line 9220, Utilities (page dated 2026-08-31, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, When to register for and start charging the GST/HST (page dated 2026-06-16, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Guide RC4022, General Information for GST/HST Registrants (page dated 2026-01-07, checked 10 November 2026)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Federal foreign tax credit, line 40500 (page dated 2026-08-14, checked 10 November 2026)
