#BIR social media influencer

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently posted a memorandum that clarifies the tax obligations of all social media influencers, individual or corporation. But who are social media influencers in the eyes of the BIR? According to the BIR, they have received reports that certain social media influencers have not been paying their income taxes despite earning huge income from different social platforms. The BIR said that the end goal is to raise revenues from their undeclared income and to remind social media influencers of their tax obligations under the law and that failure to pay taxes has possible consequences. In other words, if you earn money from social media platforms, you need to pay your taxes. The BIR said that social media influencers shall be liable to income tax and Percentage or Value-Added Tax unless exempted to the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended, and other existing laws. Social media influencers are classified for tax purposes as self-employed individuals or persons engaged in trade or business as sole proprietors, so their income is considered as business income. Social media influencers are also liable for business tax, which may be either be percentage or VAT. Read more in our articles including "A closer look at the BIR tax memo for Social Media Influencers" and "Social media platform ZOOP to launch globally".