Canadian citizen - Content creating, streaming, and taxes while visiting the U.S.

[GamingCampaign]

I'm a Canadian citizen who earns royalties as a content creator from Twitch.tv and I receive 1042-S forms from Twitch and PayPal for the royalties and donations I earn to complete my taxes in Canada.

I'm not a visa holder, and I understand that as a Canadian I'm allowed to be in the U.S. for up to 6 months within a calendar year according to IRS rules, and up to 6 months within a 12-month rolling period according to immigration rules. With that said, I will be visiting and staying within the U.S. for about four months, and plan on continuing my content creating while in the U.S. Will I have to report my royalties and donations to the IRS for the time period I'm in the U.S.? Additionally, do I need a special visa to do my line of work while in the U.S.? I'm not an employee of Twitch or YouTube.

[pk]

@GamingCampaign  -- no you do not need anything special. The logic is as follows --- the content you create is your  and has nothing to do with USA.  It is no different than a visitor  that comes to USA, visits  the Grand Canyon and after going home  uses the  photo  on Calendars and thereby makes  money.   Unless the sales come fro the US, the income is not US sourced, never mind the  "work" -- the taking of the photo was done in the USA -- it is personal at that time.  So to me your work, whether posted right away or later has nothing to do with "work" for somebody in the USA and thus not connected/ sourced  in the USA.  On the other hand, if you worked for Siemens  , say and came to the USA  to install equipment and train the users for a month, that earning  can be construed as connected /sourced  to USA, possibly.

So enjoy the USA, hope you come back again. 

[GamingCampaign]

@pk Thank you for this. It gives me a bit of an idea of what to lookout for. I am, however, not "posting" the content I create, I would actually be actively livestreaming and interacting with viewers while on U.S. soil. Would that still not really be considered "work"?

[pk]

@GamingCampaign , IMHO, it is still the same ---- live stream by itself does not create any income -- it is royalties / copyright fees etc  and for those you are already getting 1042-S.  Monetizing does not occur directly from your efforts ( working for yourself ) but only through when a client  uses it  and pays royalties.  I am not familiar with the US Canada royalties article in the  Tax agreement but if it is like  most others than  my position stands.  I will surely look it up and come back , if  I have to change my position.