(H/T – Fred)
Forbes reported on the case of the propreitor of STL Meal Deals, Karin. Karin, who had been laid off from her job at a law firm in New York and moved to St. Louis to try to find work in the paralegal field, started up the blog in April to write about local restaurant promotions. She signed up for Google’s AdSense, which sent her her first check, for $100 and change, 3 months later when she reached that amount. Up to the point where she took down the ads, she earned a total of $238.75.
That’s when the problems really started. She informed New York’s Department of Labor of the payment, as she was receiving unemployment compensation to the tune of $405 per week from the state of New York. Their rules state that if one works at least one day and receives any compensation for that work, benefits would be cut a minimum of 25%, and if that compensation exceeds the unemployment compensation, that week’s benefits would be cut to $0.00.
The DOL initially cut her unemployment compensation to $300, and sent her a form to fill out and send to her employer. Karin, unsure of whether Google qualified as the employer, asked for clarification, and was told that the AdSense payments were considered “residuals” and thus not reportable. She then re-filed her claim, saying that the AdSense payments, which was generated from her blog, were her sole non-governmental source of income. The DOL responded by launching an investigation of her “business”/blogging activities, suspending her unemployment benefits entirely, declaring her “self-employed” (with the AdSense income reportable), and directing her to delcare that she was “working” every time she updated her blog.
Forbes has yet to get an answer on whether the DOL considers AdSense payments “residuals” or “self-employment income”, though they did get a response that those payments are “uncharted territory”.
I’m a bit more comfortable with my decision to not have either ads or a tip jar at this place, especially since I have both a co-blogger and several guest-bloggers.
Of course, by not having a tip jar we avoid the embarassment of not having anybody tip to read…at least my stuff!
That’s funny; I was going to say that about my material.
I’m shocked to learn New York investigates anyone receiving a state check.