Accounting for creative & media.

Questions worth getting ahead of

• Claiming expenses as an employed artist within the CRA’s limits
• Understanding what online platforms report about your earnings
• Knowing which platform work counts as a relevant activity
• Withholding tax when paying non-resident performers
• Zero-rating work done for clients outside Canada

Employed artists have their own deduction limit

The CRA allows employees who earn income from certain artistic activities to deduct related expenses. These include composing a dramatic, musical or literary work, performing as an actor, dancer, singer or musician, and creating an original painting, print, sculpture or similar work. Reproducing a work does not count. For 2025, the claim was limited to the lesser of the expenses paid, plus amounts carried forward, and the lesser of $1,000 or 20% of artistic employment income. Unused amounts can be carried forward. If you have more than one artistic employer, total the income and expenses first. Keep receipts and a record of what each expense was for.

Platforms may already be reporting your income

Under the CRA’s digital platform reporting rules, a platform operator reports information about reportable sellers to the CRA and gives each seller a copy by January 31 of the following year. The CRA’s guidance treats time- or task-based work, such as copy writing, as a personal service. It also names musical or artistic performances, including streamed ones, as personal services, but says non-customised pre-recorded digital content is not time- or task-based. Compare any platform summary with your own sales records. If the two differ, find out why before you file.

Paying non-resident performers can mean withholding

If you hire a non-resident artist for services of an independent nature performed in Canada, Regulation 105 requires you, as payer, to withhold 15% of the amount paid. The CRA offers a simplified waiver process for self-employed non-resident artists and athletes who will earn no more than $15,000 in Canada in the calendar year. The total counts expenses paid or reimbursed and benefits such as royalties and bonuses. The payer handles the paperwork under that process. Before you book foreign talent, ask your accountant what to collect and what you may need to withhold.

Licensing your work abroad can change the GST/HST

The CRA says a supply of intellectual property, for example patent or trademark rights, together with the right to use it, is zero-rated when it is made to an unregistered non-resident. Whether a commissioned design, a photo licence or a music placement fits that description depends on what is actually supplied and to whom, and a service can be treated differently from a licence. To zero-rate a sale, you must verify and keep satisfactory evidence of the customer’s residency and registration status when the supply is made. Keep each contract, the licence terms and the client’s details together, and ask before sending the first foreign invoice.

Support to discuss with Sora