A couple, who reportedly raked in multi-million pesos from video blogging (vlogging), abruptly deleted their social media channel in what the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials believe to be an attempt to avoid paying taxes.
Based on the initial investigation of the BIR, the couple earned P50 to P100 million in the past two years which enabled them to buy luxury vehicles and built a mansion somewhere in Metro Manila.
BIR sources said the couple deleted their channel days after BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay announced a crackdown against social media influencers (SMIs) who have been receiving earning huge sum of money from social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook by compelling them to pay taxes.
The couple, BIR officials said, had more than 11 million subscribers. The names of the pair were withheld pending the outcome of the investigation.
But the BIR said it will still run after the couple, saying deleting the social media channel will not excuse them from paying taxes.
Vloggers are classified as self-employed subject to 12 percent value-added tax if annual income is P3 million and more, eight percentage tax if less than the amount and tax exempt if not more than P250,000.
Dulay advised vloggers to be truthful in their income tax declaration to avoid facing tax evasion charges.
He said SMIs cannot hide their income as tax authorities of countries where the social media platforms are based are obligated to furnish the BIR with their salaries under a tax treaty agreement with the Philippines.