Answer
Do you pay tax on crowdfunding money?
Short answer
Usually yes, for the creator. Reward crowdfunding is normally treated as revenue rather than as a gift, because backers receive something in exchange — which is exactly the distinction tax authorities care about. We do not withhold anything, so the full amount arrives and the obligation is yours.
The reason reward crowdfunding is taxed differently from a donation is the reward itself. A donation is money given for nothing in return; a pledge here buys a specific thing at a specific price, which in most jurisdictions makes it a sale that happens before delivery. That framing tends to bring both income tax and, above the relevant thresholds, VAT.
It also means the timing can be awkward in a way first-time creators do not expect. The money arrives when the campaign funds, but the cost of delivering arrives over the following months — so a campaign can be taxed on revenue in one period against expenses in the next. This is a normal accounting problem with normal solutions, but it is worth knowing before you spend the balance.
What we do is deliberately simple: we take the platform fee, we pay out the rest, and we withhold nothing. There is no tax deducted at source and we do not file anything on your behalf. That keeps the mechanism predictable, and it puts the responsibility where the law generally puts it anyway.
For backers the question rarely arises — buying a product is not a taxable event for the buyer. The exception is a refund, which simply returns what you paid and creates nothing to declare. This page is general information and not tax advice; the specifics depend on your country, your status and the amount, and an accountant is the right person to ask.