This is taxable income
In most countries, earnings from rewards networks are taxable as self-employment income or 'other income'. This includes cash withdrawals to PayPal, crypto payouts, and gift cards. Gift cards count at their face value, in the tax year you received them, even if you never spend them.
The IRS in the United States, HMRC in the United Kingdom, the ATO in Australia, and the CRA in Canada all treat it the same way: if you earned it, you report it. The thresholds for receiving a tax form from a payer are separate from the threshold for owing tax. You owe tax on dollar one. The form is just the payer's reporting obligation to the tax authority.
Most users on these networks never earn enough to materially affect their tax bill — a year of casual usage might total $50–$200. But you should still keep the records, and if you scale up to several hundred dollars or more, you should report it properly.
US: 1099-K and 1099-MISC
Networks paying you via PayPal don't issue you a 1099 directly. PayPal aggregates your incoming payments and issues a single 1099-K if you cross PayPal's reporting threshold for the year. That threshold has changed several times — $20,000 historically, $5,000 in 2024, $2,500 in 2025, $600 in 2026 as currently scheduled. Confirm the current year's threshold on the IRS website before filing.
Networks paying you via ACH bank transfer or check issue a 1099-MISC directly if you cross $600 with that single network in a calendar year. AdWallet, which only pays ACH, is the most likely on this list to trigger one.
Most users on these sites never cross either threshold. You still owe tax on what you earned; you just won't get a form in the mail to remind you.
UK, EU, Canada, Australia
United Kingdom: HMRC's trading allowance lets you earn up to £1,000 per tax year from miscellaneous self-employment without filing a return. Above that, you need to file via Self Assessment.
European Union: rules vary by country. Most have a small self-employment threshold similar to the UK's. Check your country's tax authority for the exact figure.
Canada: rewards income is taxable as 'other income' on your T1 return. There's no minimum threshold — report what you earned.
Australia: report as 'other income' on your individual return. Gift cards count at face value.
The minimal spreadsheet
Create one Google Sheet. Sheet 1 ('Withdrawals') has one row per cash-out with six columns: date, network, payout method, gross amount, fees, net received. That's it. At year-end, sum the gross column per network — that's your number to report.
Sheet 2 ('Sessions', optional) has one row per session: date, network, minutes spent, earned. This isn't for taxes — it's for you. After a month of data, you can sort by hourly rate and see exactly which networks are paying off and which aren't. Most users find that two or three networks account for 80% of their earnings, and the rest are wasting their time.
Sheet 3 ('Receipts', optional) is just a folder of screenshots — every withdrawal confirmation email, every payout-history screenshot, every support ticket. You probably won't need them, but if a tax audit or a network dispute ever happens, you'll be glad you have them.
What records to keep, and for how long
Keep all records for at least three years after the tax year they relate to. The IRS can audit returns up to three years back as standard, six years if substantial income was underreported. Other tax authorities have similar windows.
Cloud storage (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox) is fine. A clearly named folder per tax year, with subfolders per network, is enough. You don't need accounting software for this scale of activity.
When to talk to an accountant
If your rewards earnings cross $1,000 in a year, or if you're combining them with other freelance income that already requires a return, spend an hour with a local accountant. The cost (typically $100–$300) is deductible against the income in most jurisdictions, and an accountant will catch deductions — home office, internet, equipment — that you'd miss filing on your own.
Below $1,000, free tax software (TurboTax Free, FreeTaxUSA, HMRC's online return) handles it perfectly well. The 'Other income' field is one line and a number.