New law requires YouTubers to pay taxes

Neşe Karanfil - ANKARA

The details of a new law that envisages tax payment by social media influencers and online content creators based on their revenue generated through advertising have been unveiled.

According to the law, a 15 percent withholding tax will be valid for YouTubers who earn less than 880,000 liras ($77,900) for 2022, and they will not need to submit a declaration as long as they open an account in banks established in Turkey to benefit from this exception.

YouTubers will face a tax penalty if it’s determined that an account has not been opened in Turkish-based banks and entire revenue has not been deposited in the bank account or has been deposited partially.

Moreover, taxpayers not fulfilling the exemption requirement but determined to have falsely taken the advantage will become liable to pay a fine.

According to the data of the Revenue Administration, nearly 20,000 Turkish citizens earned their income from social media platforms in 2020.

It is believed that an average of 14,000 people earned nearly 4 billion liras ($352 million) through a social media platform, a study conducted between 2018 and 2020 reveals.

Following a probe into bank transactions of Turkish YouTube stars to hand them tax assessments started by the Treasury and Finance Ministry at the beginning of this year, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had been working on a taxation law for a while.

Eventually, a law that envisages tax payment by social media influencers on the basis of their revenue earned online through advertising was passed in the Turkish Parliament in October 2021.