Digital Marketer and blogger, Barimah Amoaning Samuel popularly known as Entamoty has said that a lot of the figures some content creators quote as their revenue are bloated.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z, Entamoty noted that this is one of the reasons the Ghana Revenue Authority is considering taxing Youtubers and other content creators.
"Partly, I blame some of my colleagues because they get on the radio, they get on the the TV and they mention all sort of monies; 'oh I make $3000, I make $5000 dollars on YouTube', and guess of what, most of it, are lies," he told the host Kwame Dadzie.
Asked if it is a true that some of them are building mansions and acquiring properties from content creation, Entamoty answered in the negative and explained that they usually do that to shore up their bargaining power.
"It's good when people mention these amounts of money because it makes them look good in front of people. Because if I tell you that I earn $5000, when you are coming my way with a deal, you won't say you will pay me 500 cedis.
People that are making real money from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram are just about 5%," he further noted.
He said although he knows they are obliged to pay taxes, the government should engage the creators and understand what goes into their trade.
According to Entamoty, Ghana's government should find a way of making the work of content creators more viable and effective, than just being fixated on taxing their work.
His comments come after YouTuber Kwadwo Sheldon spoke to BBC's Daniel Dadzie about the government's plan to tax the works of Ghanaian content creators, MCs, brand influencers, among others.
“Now, even before the YouTube money comes in, they will take their own. The US government will take their own. At the end of the day, let's say you earn $1,000 a month, you will be walking home with $500.”
“We are building, it's not buoyant yet. So if you keep taxing us, how much are we going to earn at the end of the day? Also, I am in a space and when you go to Social Blade, you see the average earnings of every creator. Not every content creator you see getting views on Facebook is breaking bread or is breaking even, he explained.
In 2023, the GRA announced that it was expanding its tax collection base to include influencers, bloggers, content creators, MCs and others.
The GRA said that the country’s income tax law mandates all income earners to file their taxes and these included bloggers, brand influencers, content creators and others.
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