I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors • Hacker News Board

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#441

Post by ocdtrekkie » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:32 AM UTC

ehsankia wrote: post #398

eXpl0it3r wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest difference would be that GitHub Sponsors has no fees [1], so everything people put in will go to the developer. Where Patreon can take 5-12% depending on the plan [2]. Additionally, GitHub is just so much closer to the actual open source work and more easily discoverable for users of your product. As a supporter, I'll pick GitHub over Patreon anytime. [1] https://help.github.com/en/github/supporting-the-o…

That's what I was surprised the most about. 0% cut and they also mentioned a 5k match? What? How is that even viable for Microsoft? That seems superior to basically every single platform out there. It's an instant win for GitHub Sponsors.

It's a promotional incentive. Fees will happen, and matching will end. But in the meantime, it means my sponsoring a project I care about magnifies my money for a cause I value, so I'm happy to participate.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#442

Post by httpsterio » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:42 AM UTC

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #279

virgilp wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, yes you need to report revenues, but... do you need a company for that? Do e.g. all Finnish photographers on Shutterstock have a company, in order to receive payments?

Yes, if you sell things (or electronic things), in any meaningful amount (no one will care for 200$ per year though), you have to set up a company or a sole proprietorship. It is like this in most western countries. The activity that you are doing in that case is called business, and of course you need to have a company or a similar business structure (like sole proprietorship) to do business. Whether all people do i…

Untrue, you can work with a freelancer tax card. You can't bill with VAT and deduct that from your costs as an entrepreneur if you do so, but you don't need to register anything in order to work as a freelancer.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#443

Post by 0xfeba » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:07 AM UTC

markdown wrote: post #438

jermaustin1 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an accountant or tax lawyer, so this isn't advise, only my back of the envelope calculation, not even using things like the 172 deduction, or business expenses, but my estimate was actually way off almost double. Gross Income: $112k - SEP IRA 25%: -$28k - Owner Health Insurance: -$15k - 199-A Deduction (20%): -$12k Total business income for taxes: $47k - Married Filing Jointly Deduction: -$24k - Total taxable…

> Owner Health Insurance: -$15k WTF? Who pays $15k PER YEAR for health insurance? That's nuts. In most countries USD$15k would pay for healthcare for 2 or 3 people for their entire lives.

That's not uncommon. US healthcare is expensive. People don't realize socialized healthcare would likely not change their paychecks negatively.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#444

Post by Ndymium » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:13 AM UTC

MKinley wrote: post #214

Ndymium wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure and this is kind of what I do. I have a sole proprietorship and sell stickers and in the future some minor features on the site. Of course it has the overhead of setting up the business and all the accounting/tax stuff (unless you use a service for that which takes ~5 % of your revenue).

Could you share a link to your project? I'm curious what it is.

I commented on it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23616644

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#445

Post by LyndsySimon » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:33 AM UTC

vajrabum wrote: post #388

maxwelljoslyn wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for explaining this. As an American, I was unaware.

You can take donations but AFAIK business licenses are required in every state in the US whether you provide product, service or something online. If you take donations then by law you have to declare that as income.

There is no generally “business license” in Arkansas. Some municipalities require them (but have very limited means of enforcing that requirement), and some specific occupations require licensure, but unless you fall under one of those narrow categories you only have to file taxes.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#446

Post by LyndsySimon » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:37 AM UTC

markdown wrote: post #438

jermaustin1 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an accountant or tax lawyer, so this isn't advise, only my back of the envelope calculation, not even using things like the 172 deduction, or business expenses, but my estimate was actually way off almost double. Gross Income: $112k - SEP IRA 25%: -$28k - Owner Health Insurance: -$15k - 199-A Deduction (20%): -$12k Total business income for taxes: $47k - Married Filing Jointly Deduction: -$24k - Total taxable…

> Owner Health Insurance: -$15k WTF? Who pays $15k PER YEAR for health insurance? That's nuts. In most countries USD$15k would pay for healthcare for 2 or 3 people for their entire lives.

That’s actually fairly “cheap”, if it’s covering more than one person.

For a brief period I lived in Virginia and had no medical coverage through my employer. The legal minimum coverage was $1,400 / month for my family of four... and it was basically worthless; I would have had to have paid out something like $40k in a single year for medical services before I would have broken even.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#447

Post by kabacha » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:42 AM UTC

Stallman was right story once again, huh?

He argued that the best way to monetize libre software is to sell training/education and 80% of OP's income come from the educational screen-casts.

Maybe the lesson here is that if you want to earn money from libre software you have to learn how to create and sell training. I think this model is really beautiful — everyone wins: good software, good training material, strong communities and respect everyone's freedoms!

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#448

Post by conductr » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:49 AM UTC

Ndymium wrote: post #132

Reading these makes me sad about the law in my country, Finland. The lowest tier of OP ($7 for no reward) would be illegal here. We have a law called "Money Collection act", which states that to gather donations (i.e. payments with nothing in return), you have to get a permit. This permit costs money, is not given to individuals, and is given only for non-profit activities. So this means that if you see a donation/sp…

Write a haiku and make that the "reward" part of your project?

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#449

Post by jlokier » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:50 AM UTC

NorwegianDude wrote: post #423

henryfjordan wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine you are paid $100 to build a website to sell some new widget to be delivered on November 1st just in time for the holiday season. The company also spends $1000 on a one-day internet marketing campaign that's around the launch. Then there's a technical issue at launch and orders are being rejected left and right. They could be out basically the whole value of the marketing campaign which is 10x your salary. Yo…

That's why you have contracts/ToS, so it's clear what is and isn't your responsibility.

And if you have any sense, the contract expressly limits your total liabilities to the client to at most what they have already paid you.

(ps. With some careful lawyer drafting to exempt things which can't be limited in that way (negligence etc.), while carefully wording the exemption so any part voided doesn't take the whole limitation with it.)

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#450

Post by jlokier » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 3:53 AM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #240

karambir wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The exact same thing is for India. Individuals can't get non-profit status. So you have to sell something. A software dev friend tried donate button with cta "Get exclusive support" for few months. But international audience didn't quite get it. I have seen some gamers in India asking for donations and giving direct account details(UPI[1] details), but I am very cautious against this. I am just waiting(selfishly) for…

Accepting sponsorships like this is not non-profit. You still have to report it as income and pay taxes on it.

True donations are not taxable in the UK, because they are not part of a trade.

In other words, they are not given in exchange for something; the something is freely given without the donation.

Of course there is the question of whether something is truly a donation. But charities have to deal with that question, so there are formulaic approaches to it, and advisors. Sometimes the wording that accompanies a donation must be written carefully, to clarify what is and is not expected for it, because donations can be directed to a purpose, which isn't (apparently) the same as paying for something.

I assume it's similar elsewhere?