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MANILA, Philippines — Vloggers — including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — might be required to pay taxes if they are earning income from their vlogs, Marissa Cabreros, said deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
In an interview with Teleradyo’s “SRO” on Monday night, Cabreros was handed a phone-in question as to whether Marcos would be included in the agency’s push to tax vloggers.
In response, Cabreros said that, regardless of their identity, vloggers who monetize their accounts on streaming sites like YouTube, would need to pay taxes.
“Now whether profit is immaterial to you or is just small or it’s just your sideline, once you earn something you have to collate it. If what you earn is small, then maybe you have no tax to pay,” she added, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English.
Marcos is one of the most social media-visible presidents in the country’s recent history with millions of followers on his social media accounts. On his YouTube channel, where he posts most of his vlogs — including those made before the election season — he has over 2.7 million followers.
INQUIRER.net tried viewing some of Marcos’ vlogs using an ordinary, non-Premium, YouTube account. Advertisements did not pop out, which could be an indication that the account was not monetized.
Cabreros also noted that on sites like YouTube vloggers could earn money if ads are attached to the content they upload.
“So for every view of your account mo and you are capable enough [to attract views] so that ads will be inserted, you earn from the ads inserted in your content. So yes, you will be earning income,” she explained.
As to whether Marcos would be asked about his YouTube account, Cabreros clarified that the president was already considered a taxpayer, a government employee receiving a salary for his work. She noted, however, that if Marcos was indeed earning money from vlogging, he might have to file a form specifying multiple sources of income.
But Cabreros added: “I cannot speak for the president. I don’t know his registration profile.”
The BIR has been gearing up to collect taxes from vloggers who are said to be earning a lot from monetized content. As early as 2021, it promised to check on the earnings of vloggers — with social media influencers expressing openness to communicate with the BIR.