A couple who earned millions of pesos from video blogging (vlogging) has shut their social media channel to avoid paying taxes.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials said that initial investigation found that the couple earned Php50 to Php100 million in the past two years.
The money was used by them to buy luxury vehicles and build a mansion somewhere in Metro Manila.
According to the BIR sources the couple “deleted” their channel.
This came in reaction to the announcement of action by BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay against social media influencers who have been earning huge sums of money from social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook but failed to pay taxes.
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The channel had more than 11 million subscribers and their names have not been disclosed till the outcome of BIR’s investigation.
The BIR said “deleting the social media channel” doesn’t exempt them from paying taxes.
Vloggers who are classified as self-employed are subject to 12 percent value-added tax for an annual income of Php3 million and have to pay eight percent tax for lesser amounts while they are exempt till Php250,000 earning.
Dulay has issued an advisory asking vloggers not to hide their income tax declaration to avoid payment of tax evasion charges. (AW)
