Google withholds taxes from non-US YouTube creators
Vietnamese YouTubers face the risk of being taxed twice as Google’s new tax policy takes effect.
Google has begun withholding US taxes on earnings that non-US content creators in YouTube, including those from Vietnam, generate from viewers in the US.
| Google's new tax policy would have a major impact on YouTubers outside the US. File photo |
Under the new policy, YouTube content creators were required to submit their tax information to Google AdSense before May 31, or they would risk being deducted up to 24% of total earnings worldwide for taxes.
In this scenario, if a YouTuber makes US$100 from the platform, he/she would be deducted US$24 from that sum in case they do not submit tax info before the deadline.
Otherwise, Google will only deduct taxes from the income that non-US content creators earn from US viewers. For example, from the US$100 revenue from YouTube, and only US$20 comes from US viewers, taxes will be withheld from that US$20, not the entire sum.
According to Google, the withholding rates are between 0-30% on earnings a YouTuber generates from viewers in the US and depending on whether his or her country has a tax treaty relationship with the US.
“Google has a responsibility under Chapter 3 of the US Internal Revenue Code to collect tax info, withhold taxes, and report to the Internal Revenue Service (the US tax authority, also known as the IRS) when a YouTube Partner Program creator on YouTube earns royalty revenue from viewers in the US,” explained the IT giant on the move.
There is no doubt that Google’s policy would have a major impact on YouTubers outside the US, especially those with a large number of viewers from this country.
In Vietnam, in addition to the 24-30% tax rates from YouTube itself, local content creators are also subject to pay income taxes in their own country.
A recent survey revealed that Vietnam has currently 15,000 monetized YouTube channels. Under the Law on Tax Administration, individuals with income from YouTube will have to pay a 7% tax on their turnover if they earn over VND100 million (US$4,340) per year.
