If you’re under eighteen and want to take paying commissions, you can do it, but the process for how to do commissions as a minor runs through your parent or guardian at almost every step: they co-sign your contracts to make them enforceable, they open the payment accounts you can’t hold in your own name, and they help you handle the tax return you’ll owe once your net earnings pass $400 in a year. The creative work is yours. The paperwork is a team project.
Why a Parent Has to Co-Sign Your Contracts
Under the common law doctrine of infancy, contracts signed by anyone under eighteen are generally voidable.1LII / Legal Information Institute. Infancy | Wex | US Law That means you can walk away from an agreement before you turn eighteen without the legal consequences an adult would face. The client on the other side, though, can’t cancel just because they hired a minor. Only your side gets the escape hatch.
That imbalance is exactly why serious clients ask a parent or guardian to co-sign. When an adult guarantees the deal, the contract becomes enforceable against that adult even if you later try to cancel. For a small informal commission between individuals, many buyers will accept the risk without a co-signer. Anyone paying a meaningful amount will want that adult signature.
Walking away isn’t consequence-free either. If you cancel a contract, most states require you to return whatever you received, whether that’s payment, materials, or anything else. A growing number of states go further and require you to take additional steps to restore the other side to where they were before the deal. You generally can’t pocket the money and disappear.
Setting Up the Accounts You’ll Need
Federal child labor rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act generally apply to employer-employee relationships, not to self-employed minors running their own freelance work.2U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations The real gatekeepers are the platforms. PayPal requires all users to be at least eighteen or the age of majority in their state, and it does not offer a teen or student account.3PayPal. PayPal User Agreement Stripe has the same eighteen-and-older rule. In practice, a parent opens the payment account in their own name and manages the money flow for you.
If you’re under thirteen, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act adds another layer. COPPA restricts online services from collecting personal information from children under thirteen without verifiable parental consent, and most freelance marketplaces respond by prohibiting accounts for anyone in that age group.4Federal Trade Commission. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) A parent will handle nearly all of the online interaction with clients.
Your Social Security Number
Every minor with income needs their own Social Security Number. Most people have one assigned at birth through the hospital’s birth certificate process.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Numbers for Children If you don’t have one, a parent can apply at a local Social Security office with your birth certificate and proof of identity. The IRS uses your SSN to track your earnings, and you’ll need it for your bank account, tax forms, and any client who asks for a W-9.
A Bank Account
Most banks won’t let minors hold accounts alone. You’ll usually open a joint account or a custodial account with a parent listed as co-owner or custodian. That’s the account your payment platform transfers will land in. A joint checking account is the simplest option for freelance income because both of you can move funds as needed.
Form W-9
Clients who pay you $600 or more in a year are required to report that payment to the IRS, and they’ll ask you to complete Form W-9.6Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification Put your own name on Line 1 and your own Social Security Number in the TIN section. The form’s instructions for custodial accounts of a minor specifically say to furnish the minor’s SSN, not the parent’s.7Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024) Leave Line 2 blank unless you’ve registered a formal business name. Keep a copy of every W-9 you fill out.
What Happens After You Send an Invoice
Once accounts are set up, the payment cycle follows a predictable rhythm. You send an invoice describing the work and the price. The client pays through the platform. Funds land in your digital balance first rather than going straight to your bank.
New accounts and sellers with limited transaction history often see longer hold periods. Payment processors sometimes hold funds for several business days while they verify a transaction, and a new account with no track record almost always sits longer than an established one. Holds that run significantly longer than that can be triggered by a sudden spike in volume or a buyer dispute. Building consistent history over time is what shortens holds.
Once funds clear in your platform balance, you initiate a transfer to your linked bank account, which typically takes another one to two business days. Build those delays into your commission timelines so you’re not waiting on money you need for supplies.
Who Owns the Finished Work
Copyright belongs to the creator automatically at the moment of creation. Federal law is explicit: copyright vests initially in the author.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 201 – Ownership of Copyright You don’t need to register anything or add a copyright symbol. When you draw a commissioned illustration, you own the copyright unless you specifically transfer it.
The phrase “work for hire” gets used loosely, but it has a narrow legal meaning that actually protects most commissioned artists. For a work to qualify as made for hire when you aren’t someone’s employee, it must fall within one of nine specific categories in federal law, and both parties must sign a written agreement explicitly calling it a work for hire.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 101 – Definitions Those categories include things like contributions to a collective work, translations, and parts of a motion picture. A standalone commissioned illustration or digital artwork doesn’t fit any of them.10U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 30 – Works Made for Hire Even if a client’s contract calls your commission a “work for hire,” that label likely doesn’t hold up for custom art.
What a client can do is ask you to assign your copyright through a written transfer. Because a minor’s signature on that transfer might be voidable, clients sometimes ask a parent to co-sign the assignment too. Before you agree to any transfer, make sure both of you understand the difference between selling all rights and granting a limited license. Selling all rights means you can never resell, repost, or use the piece again. A personal-use license lets the client display the work while you keep ownership and the right to show it in your portfolio.
Taxes You’ll Owe Once You Pass $400
The IRS doesn’t care how old you are. If your net self-employment income hits $400 in a year, you must file a federal tax return, even if you’re claimed as a dependent on your parent’s return.11Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) “Net income” is what’s left after subtracting your business expenses from your gross earnings.
Schedule C and Schedule SE
You report your commission income and business expenses on Schedule C, which feeds into Form 1040.12Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss from Business Your profit or loss then flows to your main return.
On top of income tax, self-employed people pay self-employment tax to cover Social Security and Medicare. The combined rate is 15.3%, but it doesn’t apply to your full net income. You multiply your net earnings by 92.35% first, then apply the 15.3% rate to that reduced figure. That multiplier exists because employed workers pay only half of these taxes while their employer covers the rest; since you’re both, the code gives you a break on the base. You also get to deduct half of the self-employment tax you pay as an adjustment to gross income.13Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax All of this gets calculated on Schedule SE, filed alongside your 1040.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040)
Why You’ll Probably Owe Self-Employment Tax But Not Income Tax
For 2026, the standard deduction for a single filer is $16,100.15Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 If you’re claimed as a dependent, your standard deduction is calculated differently: it’s the greater of a set minimum or your earned income plus $450, capped at the full $16,100. For most minors earning a few thousand dollars in commissions, the standard deduction wipes out federal income tax entirely. Self-employment tax still applies once you pass $400 in net earnings.
A quick example. Earn $2,000 in net commission income and your self-employment tax runs about $283 ($2,000 × 0.9235 × 0.153). Your income tax is likely zero because the standard deduction exceeds your earnings. The $283 is still due, and the filing requirement is still triggered.
One boundary worth knowing: the “kiddie tax” applies only to unearned income like dividends and investment gains, not to money you earn from freelance work.16Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 553, Tax on a Child’s Investment and Other Unearned Income (Kiddie Tax) Commission income is earned income and follows the normal rules above.
Quarterly Estimated Payments
Because no employer is withholding taxes from your commissions, the IRS expects you to pay as you go through quarterly estimated tax payments.17Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes You generally need to make these payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file. The four deadlines fall in April, June, September, and January of the following year. You can avoid the underpayment penalty if you owe less than $1,000 at filing time, or if you’ve paid at least 90% of the current year’s tax or 100% of the prior year’s tax, whichever is smaller.18Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty In your first commissioning year, if you had no tax liability the year before, the prior-year safe harbor may mean estimated payments don’t apply yet. After a profitable year, plan on paying quarterly the next year.
The 1099-K You May or May Not Receive
If you accept payments through a third-party platform like PayPal, that platform may be required to send you and the IRS a Form 1099-K reporting your gross payments. For 2026, the reporting threshold is $20,000 in gross payments and more than 200 transactions.19Internal Revenue Service. IRS Revises and Updates Form 1099-K Frequently Asked Questions Most minors won’t hit that number. You still have to report your income; the $400 filing threshold doesn’t change just because no form arrived.
Business Expenses You Can Deduct
Every dollar you spend running your commission business reduces your taxable income. You deduct these costs on Schedule C. Common categories for digital creators include:
- Software and subscriptions: drawing programs, design tools, cloud storage, and services you need for the work.
- Hardware: drawing tablets, computers, monitors, and cameras. Items costing $2,500 or less can typically be deducted in full in the year you buy them under the de minimis safe harbor.
- Supplies: physical art supplies, printing materials, packaging for shipped commissions, and postage.
- Internet costs: the business-use portion of your home internet.
- Platform fees: transaction fees from PayPal, Stripe, or your payment processor, plus listing or membership fees on marketplaces.
Keep receipts for everything. A simple spreadsheet logging the date, amount, vendor, and business purpose is enough. Expenses have to be ordinary and necessary for your business to qualify, so a new video game console doesn’t count even if you use the same computer for gaming and drawing.
Scams Aimed at Young Freelancers
Commission artists get targeted often, and inexperience makes the fallout worse. The most dangerous scheme is the fake check scam. Someone contacts you, often through social media, praises your work, and sends a check for more than the agreed price. Then they ask you to send the overage back or forward part of the payment to a third party. The check looks real and the funds may temporarily appear in your account, but when the bank discovers the check is fraudulent, you’re responsible for the full amount you withdrew or sent.20Federal Trade Commission. Scammers Target Young Adults on Social Media With Fake Check Scam
The simplest rule: never deposit a check from someone you don’t personally know and trust, and never send money back to a buyer for any reason. Legitimate clients don’t overpay and ask for refunds. Also be wary of clients who push you off your normal platform, promise unrealistically large payments for simple work, or ask for free “test” commissions before a big order that never materializes.
Chargeback fraud is the other common risk. A buyer pays through a platform, receives the finished work, and then disputes the charge with their bank to get their money back while keeping the art. Protect yourself by keeping written records of every conversation, delivering work through the platform rather than through direct messages, and using watermarked previews before you release final files. Records like that make a fraudulent dispute much harder to win.