Photo = REUTERS
Google’s online video platform YouTube has changed its terms and conditions to withhold taxes from US viewers to YouTubers around the world.
On the 10th, YouTube announced through a notice that “from the end of this year, as early as June, Google will be obligated to deduct US tax from the payments of non-US creators (Youtubers).”
Under the revised terms and conditions, all YouTubers who subscribe to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) that make money on YouTube are required to submit tax information to Google AdSense. Google uses this to determine whether the account is subject to U.S. tax.
YouTube said, “If you don’t submit your tax information by May 31st, you can deduct up to 24% of global gross income.”
Google cited Chapter 3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Law as the reason for changing the terms and conditions. Google explained, “If you collect tax information from all creators who make money outside of the United States and earn money from viewers in the United States, you are responsible for deducting the tax on a case-by-case basis.”
Along with this, Google said it will change its terms of service, stating that “YouTube income from creators outside the U.S. is considered royalties under U.S. tax laws.” This means that Google deducted the tax as stipulated by US law.
Revenues incurred by taxes include advertisements, YouTube premiums, and Super Chat (sponsored) generated by US viewers. Considering that the withholding tax rate is up to 30%, it is highly likely that the existing income of YouTubers outside the United States, including domestic YouTubers, will decrease.
On the other hand, according to data on “income amount of single media creators (youtubers, etc.)” submitted by the National Tax Service last month by Rep. Yang Gyeong-sook of the Democratic Party of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee, the number of single media creators reported in 2019 was 2776 people. .
The total amount of income reported by them was 871 billion won, an average of 31.52 million won per person. Of these, the top 10% (277 people) earned 59.86 billion won (average 216 million won per person). The top 1% (27 people) earned an average of 671 million won per person.
Seongsu Bae, reporter of Hankyung.com [email protected]
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