Europe’s Side Hustle Boom Runs Into New EU Tax Reporting Rules

Nearly one in two Americans earned side hustle income this year, and Europe’s version of that boom looks smaller, shakier, and headed for a tax reckoning. The US figure comes from a nationwide Intuit QuickBooks survey published this spring. Across the Atlantic, the same economic pressure is at work, and the data points to insecurity as the bigger driver.

European regulators are watching the same trend with different eyes. A stricter EU reporting rule due this year could make side income far harder to hide from tax authorities, just as city halls from Lisbon to Amsterdam cap the side hustle category that pays the most.

A Boom That Looks Smaller and Shakier in Europe

Intuit QuickBooks, the small-business accounting platform owned by Intuit, surveyed 3,000 US adults in December 2025 and found that 47% had earned side hustle income during the year. Two in five Americans said they plan to start a new business or side hustle in 2026 to build wealth, and half of Gen Z respondents said the same.

The numbers get less rosy once you ask what side hustlers actually need. Respondents said they would need to clear $94,000 a year before they would feel comfortable quitting their day job. Fewer than 11% of them made that much last year.

European Business Magazine, a European business publication, frames the continent’s version of the trend differently. More than 40% of US working-age adults earn some income outside their main job, and Europe’s share is lower but rising fast, concentrated among under-40s, migrants and people in precarious work. Working professionals, not students or retirees, now make up the fastest growing slice of that group on the continent, overtaking the younger and older cohorts that used to define gig work.

Rising Costs Are Pulling Professionals Into Side Work

Housing costs, interest rates and inflation have squeezed real pay on both sides of the Atlantic. Even people with solid salaries say they feel poorer than they did five years ago, and a second income has become the way to claw some of that back.

Inflation may have cooled on paper, but everyday expenses like housing, groceries, and insurance remain stubbornly high.

Marty Bauer, an ecommerce expert at the email and SMS marketing platform Omnisend, made that point after his company’s spring survey found American side hustlers collectively pull in tens of billions of dollars a month.

The QuickBooks data shows who benefits most from that pressure. Millennials reported the highest monthly side hustle earnings, at $2,260, while putting in 20 hours a month, for roughly $113 an hour. Gen Z workers earned $1,813 a month over 17 hours, or about $107 an hour. Overall, US side hustlers reported $104 an hour, 181% above the national wage tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What Actually Pays, Category by Category

Not every side hustle pays the same, and the spread across Europe is wide. A European freelance earnings guide broke 2026 income down by category, pulling from platforms including Upwork, Fiverr, Etsy and short-term rental trackers.

The category with the highest ceiling, short-term rentals, is also the one running into the toughest new limits, which shows up later in city licensing rules. A small slice of side hustles graduate into fully registered companies, exactly the kind of early-stage, bootstrapped outfit that European venture investors are chasing harder. FirstPick recently launched a €25 million fund for Baltic founders, aimed squarely at that kind of scrappy, self-funded starting point.

Why the Headline Numbers Never Match

Ask five surveys how many people have a side hustle and expect five different answers. The gap comes down to definitions: some count anyone with any side income, others only count active, ongoing work.

• Intuit QuickBooks counts 47% of Americans earning side hustle income in 2026.
• Bankrate counts just 27% for the same year, down from 36% in 2025.
• Omnisend’s own March 2026 survey lands at 28% in the US, with different rates across the other three countries it polled.

That last survey is useful precisely because it asked the identical question in four countries at once. Omnisend found 28% of Americans currently running a side hustle, against 25% in the UK, 31% in Canada and 33% in Australia. Even inside Europe, the UK number looks low next to other tallies: Side Hustle Nation puts side hustle rates among UK Gen Z at 42% and UK millennials at 39%, a reminder that population-wide averages hide how concentrated the trend is among younger workers.

Brussels and City Halls Close In

While researchers argue over participation rates, European authorities have moved straight to enforcement. Most EU countries already tax side income starting from the first euro, and 2026 brings a stricter reporting rule known as DAC7, which pushes digital marketplaces, rental apps and gig platforms to hand seller earnings directly to national tax authorities rather than waiting for people to self-report.

City governments are moving in parallel. Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin and Amsterdam have tightened short-term rental rules and licence caps in 2026, and many cities now require registration alongside a primary-residence cap, often somewhere between 90 and 120 nights a year. Net income on a rental after cleaning, utilities, platform fees and tourism tax typically runs to 50% to 70% of gross earnings, before the new caps even apply.

That is the same category that topped the earnings table above. The side hustle paying the most is also the one facing the toughest new ceiling.

The Burnout Bill Nobody Puts on the Invoice

Extra income comes with extra hours, and UK data shows the size of the trade-off. Monzo, the UK digital bank, surveyed 2,000 UK adults running a side gig alongside a full-time job.

• Balancing the side hustle with full-time work, the single biggest challenge, cited by 34% of respondents
• Time constraints such as childcare or social commitments, cited by 27%
• Money-management strain as the business grows, reported by 80% of those whose side income expanded significantly

Eighty-eight percent of side hustle owners said they had hit at least one of these challenges. Workers aged 25 to 34 earn the most from their side work, averaging £507.87 a month from their side gig, equal to roughly 44% of their full-time income.

Despite the hours and the friction, confidence hasn’t cracked. Eighty-one percent of the UK side hustlers Monzo surveyed say theirs will still be running by the end of the year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is DAC7 and Which Side Hustles Does It Cover?

DAC7 is the EU reporting rule taking fuller effect in 2026 that requires digital platforms to report seller earnings straight to national tax authorities. It applies broadly across the platforms that make up the side hustle economy, not just short-term rentals, covering the marketplaces, creator tools and on-demand apps that now employ tens of millions of people across Europe.

How Many Side Hustlers Actually Register as a Business?

Among US millennial side hustlers surveyed by Intuit QuickBooks, 23% had already registered their side hustle as a formal business, and 46% said they hope to eventually turn it into a full-time company. That registration step is the dividing line between a side income stream and a business with its own legal footing.

Why Do Most People Start a Side Hustle?

Money is the dominant reason across every country Omnisend surveyed. Financial motives were cited by 80% of American respondents, 83% in the UK, 85% in Canada and 80% in Australia, with only 8% to 10% pursuing a passion project or hobby they hoped to turn into income.

How Many Hours a Week Does a Side Hustle Take?

UK side hustlers spend an average of 9 hours a week managing their venture, according to Monzo’s survey. Almost a third put in more than 10 hours, and one in ten works 20 hours or more on top of a full-time job.

Is Renting Out a Spare Room Still Worth It in Europe?

It can be, but margins are thinner than the headline income suggests. After cleaning, utilities, platform fees, tourism tax and depreciation, hosts typically keep 50% to 70% of gross rental income, and that is before the new registration caps in cities such as Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin and Amsterdam reduce how many nights a property can legally be let.