‘Influencers, digital workers need dialogue with BIR’

by Artemio Dumlao – The Philippine Star, 28 Aug 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue is being urged to hold a dialogue with influencers and other digital workers, such as Axie players, before imposing another tax burden.

Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles pointed out “we need to recognize that behind the glamor and fame, internet influencers are doing real work from conceptualization to actual production of various contents.”

He said their situation is similar to that of other digital workers such as Axie players and scholars. “These things involve a lot of labor costs and operational expenses. Besides, most of the effort they do before being able to monetize are actually unpaid,” he said.

A dialogue with them is necessary so tax authorities could understand how the content creation cycle works, Nograles stressed, adding, “(this) will also help the BIR determine its policies on digital workers moving forward.”

The lawmaker also belied that influencers are not paying taxes.

“Their taxes are withheld when they deal with corporations for brand partnerships and this form of income is one of their largest revenue sources,” he said. “For their advertisement-related income, the onus should be on big tech such as Google to undertake tax withholding as they also operate in the Philippines anyway.”

Nograles further pushed that a dialogue with social media influencers will also serve as a venue to clarify issues and concerns.

“We would like to get more regulatory clarity on this matter and the step forward is for all parties to sit down for a thorough discussion on the entire social media landscape and determine where the government can generate revenue,” he said.

Regarding play-to-earn platforms such as Axie, Nograles reminded the BIR that they admitted that no action can be undertaken at the moment as there has been no regulatory clarity on whether it is currency or security.

“Taxation on these instruments is dependent on such clarity,” he asserted.