"C. Which Form to File: Nonresident aliens who are required to file an income tax return must use Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return"
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-nr
NOT YOUR LAWYER. Just providing links to a government website that explains what that government requires of people who earn US income.
Things like "Add lines 25a through 25c". Don't they have computers? Are the forms for Citizens like this too?
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe...
A car given to an employee as a "gift" is income to the employee and a taxable deduction by the employer. See Duesenberg (I'm trying to find the citation. I only remember that it involved an expensive car given to a senior employee in the early years of US income tax.)
And there is an Andy Griffith Show episode about this, about Aunt May having to pay income tax on prizes. The tax man was played by the guy who played the priest on MASH.
"While in Hollywood, Aunt Bee wins several new appliances on a TV quiz show, but when she returns home she loses her friends as a result. William Christopher plays the IRS agent who visits the Taylors to collect taxes on the prizes."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Andy_Griffith_Show...
Obligatory: not an accountant/lawyer
I’m sure there are clauses to avoid abusing gift tax as a loop hole for providing a service.
So you will have to file a tax return and get the money back just like every other income earner in the country. The real issue imho is that the bulk of youtubers probably aren't properly filing any returns in any country.
I have a young guy working for me who does game streaming on weekends. I think he earned a few thousand dollars last year. He had no idea that such income was taxable, that he would actually have to hand over part of it to the government despite it not coming from his fulltime job. I think he would prefer google withhold those dollars.