UK streamers report incorrect payments from Twitch

Some UK streamers have taken to social media to complain about receiving lower payments from Twitch than expected.

UK-based content creator Voxy Kitty posted a Twitter thread saying they have received a 30/70 split from Twitch for the past four years in error.

The correct revenue split should be 50/50, where the streamer takes 50% of revenues generated through their streams through subscriptions and so on, and Twitch takes the other 50%.

Voxy went on to say they’re owed payments from Twitch totalling £4,000, and was told by Twitch to contact their tax office to ask for it, as Twitch had ‘been withholding 30%’ of the money to pay tax in the US.

As Twitch is a US-based business, UK streamers are required to fill in a tax form with their correct information so that they are charged the correct amount.

Voxy did say that their national insurance number was already on the on-boarding and tax forms.

This is not an isolated incident. Many UK streamers have also since commented and shared the post, saying they are similarly owed money. At the time of writing as the tweet has generated almost 200,000 impressions.

Voxy said: “I have asked quite a few UK streamers and they are all being paid 30/70. So how the fuck is that okay? A tier three sub for £20 was giving me $6.95. A Tier 1 sub of £3.99 was giving me $1.66. Make sure you’re checking your payouts because this is disgusting.”

Voxy also said they reported this by going onto the Twitch help page, then the affiliates category then payouts.

Fnatic Meg looks into payments from Twitch

Fnatic streamer Meg said below they sent an email to Twitch asking what their revenue split is, and was told by Twitch: “Starting June 2023, Partners on standard contracts and all Affiliates should look for an email from Twitch with instructions and information regarding an update to their agreements.”

“Looking at my current partner contract,” Meg continued, “they deduct an unspecified fee for a lot of the extras for Bits.

“Not only do they charge those purchasing them extra, they also take a fee from the streamer. “You may receive a fee from us relating to Bits that are used by a viewer to cheer for you through chat or other means on your Twitch channel.”

Meg added: “On top of the unspecified revenue split they also state: “You may receive a fee equal to the percentage set forth in your dashboard of Net Revenue from your Channel Subscriptions”.

“They also deduct fees for the ads shown on your channel: “You may receive a fee equal to the percentage set forth in your dashboard of Net Revenue for Advertisements displayed or broadcast on your Twitch Channel during your livestreaming performance, in connection with User Content, or on your Twitch Channel.”

“None of these fees are shown in your pay-out slip,” Meg said.

Another Twitch statement sent to BBurger also spoke about fees.

Others suggested UK streamers should re-do their Partner/Affiliate on-boarding once a year and to include their national insurance number in the correct documentation as foreign tax ID.

Esports News UK has reached out to Twitch for comment on this situation.

Previously, around a separate story a few years ago, a Twitch spokesperson told us at the time: “We are unable to provide tax advice. When a partner writes in to us, we forward them to our Taxcentral website where they can get possible assistance as well as pick up their tax forms which they can consult a tax professional with if they wish to do so.”

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.