This could probably get some people in trouble so I am going to make a disclaimer here and say that I am not encouraging people to dodge taxes but we all know that people all around the world do this as much as possible and it was recently pointed out to me that due to the international nature of the online teaching game, many organizations provide you with paperwork to pay taxes if you want to but really, there isn't much of a way that anyone can actually make you do it. It's not like the Chinese company that I work for is going to report me to the USA Revenue Department.
If you ask me, teaching online is a pretty easy gig, especially once you have been doing it for a month or two. Just like any job, it is a bit nerve racking at first because you don't really know what the hell you are doing. The companies that have curriculums tend to make it really easy for you though and this is why they are most likely making as much money per hour as you do. Other jobs - the best and most difficult ones to get - are simply conversational classes with advanced speakers so the only thing you really have to do is get them talking about whatever, and they practice their English. You refine their speech more than you actually are teaching them anything. I have only ever landed one or two jobs like this and I really wish I could find some more.
It never really occurred to me that taxes were not being paid by anyone on your salary because I always kind of felt that this would be something that is up to the employer. I never really thought about it nor did I even realize what country the 2 companies that I teach for were based out of. The reason why I am not paying personal income tax works like this: While I am employed by the company I am NOT based in the country that the employer is in and therefore am not responsible to pay taxes on my income in that country - or at least that is how I understand it based on what the employers have told me.
They periodically provide me with income statement and tell me that I am a "privately contracted part time employee" and therefore it is not their responsibility to report my income to anyone.
I think that this is wise on their part because seeing as how the company I work for teaches several dozen languages and operates out of many countries all around the globe, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible for them to organize sending this sort of taxation paperwork to what is bound to be dozens of different nations all around the world.
I'll go ahead and say that I have no intention of actually providing this paperwork to the IRS. The better news if you are not American is that there is a better than average chance that you are probably not even required to submit this paperwork to your government unless you are actually living in the country that you are a citizen of. I am also not required to report my income to Thailand because the company I am employed by is not a Thai company.
I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of international tax law but out of everyone that I know that does this for a living, nobody reports their income and nobody has ever gotten in trouble for this. Since you are only making between 10 and 20 dollars an hour and are likely working part-time, there is a good chance that even if you did report it that you would fall below an income threshold and not be required to pay any tax anyway.
So if there are any other people out there that hate paying taxes, this is just another reason why teaching online might be a decent job choice. I tend to look at the $12 an hour average that I normally get paid and think of it as $15-$17 an hour since I don't have to give any of the money to papa government!