BIR seeks dialogue with vloggers for tax compliance

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will seek a dialogue with influencers to make them comply with tax laws amid a widening adoption of various social media platforms for making a living.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui maintained that the agency is not forgetting its plan to require social media influencers to pay their tax obligations to the government.

“They will be taxed because of course, they are earning income. Hopefully, they will learn because some influencers just don’t know their tax obligations,” Lumagui said.

The BIR defines social media influencers as people whose digital posts are being monetized, classifying them as self-employed persons engaged in business as sole proprietors.

Lumagui noted that the messaging before was not properly crafted, thus the retaliation from vloggers and other influencers. When the BIR announced its plan to go after social media personalities, some content creators deleted their channels.

The BIR earlier said it was looking into at least 250 top earning social media influencers to determine if they have been paying their tax obligations.

Based on the BIR’s circular, influencers are required to pay income tax and percentage value-added tax, if applicable, as mandated by the Tax Code.

“What we want is a dialogue with them. They have tax obligations as social media influencers because they are earning from vlogging. So this is their responsibility as income earners,” Lumagui said.

He said no formal dialogue has been done with social media influencers, but the BIR is in the process of auditing them. This is part of the letters of authority issued to influencers for the BIR to conduct an investigation.

Lumagui emphasized that the BIR wants to be “friendly” with social media influencers.

“They don’t have to be afraid because we will assist them,” he said.

Lumagui cited what happened with lotto agents and operators that had a lot of misunderstanding and misconceptions regarding their obligations before they were formally taxed.

He noted that lotto agents and operators did not know they had to register, with the agency initiating a briefing with them.

“That’s our goal – to educate. Sometimes they do not comply because they don’t know the rules,” Lumagui said.

According to the BIR, social media influencers derive their income from YouTube, sponsored social and blog posts, display advertising and affiliate marketing, among others.