The same year he debuted as an actor, Kapuso star Mikael Daez also joined YouTube.
As a social media pioneer, he was asked for his two cents on the Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) memorandum relating to the “Taxation of Any Income Received by Social Media Influencers.”
He said, "I think, 'yung saying na 'death and taxes are inevitable' dito sa buhay natin, 'di ba? And to a certain extent that’s true. But I think we have to understand that yung government system natin, yung tax system is also evolving."
He noted how some years ago, people aren't aware of what "Youtube" is. But now, almost everyone is familiar with it.
In fact, Mikael even came across schools offering courses on how to be a "professional" online content creator.
"I think nag-a-adjust din 'yung mga tao, and if that's what the government requires and there are taxes to be paid, kasi nagiging negosyo na rin siya, then I think it's up to us na maging responsible para sa mga obligations natin bilang Filipinos," he said.
"Kasi patas naman, kasi hindi naman sa 'Ay siya, kahit hindi niya kailangan magbayad ng buwis.' So, I think, right now parang it's a transition period and all players involved -- people from the government, YouTubers, digital players alike -- we need to start educating ourselves on being aware."
Mikael reiterated that he himself has started to brush up on the matter.
"Like, okay, what do I need to be aware of para ready ako in the future to fulfill my obligations? So 'yun yung stand ko 'doon," was how he put it.
"Just like getting into showbiz, for example, hindi ko alam na, 'Ay, may kailangan palang ganito, may kailangan palang registration na ganito,' so it's part of the process," he added. "And in life, lagi 'tong mangyayari. Ang daming pagbabago, so dapat willing lang talaga tayong matuto lagi."
According to BIR, they have been receiving reports that certain social media influencers have been remiss in paying their income taxes despite earning “huge” income from different social media platforms.
There are also reports that some social media influencers are not registered with the BIR or are registered under different tax types or line of business, but are also not declaring their earnings from social media platforms for tax purposes.
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/17/pay-taxes-social-media-influencers-told/