March 11, 2021

YouTube to Start Deducting Taxes From Content Creators Outside U.S.


Trustworthy and indepth news stories are more important now than ever.
Support our newsroom by MAKING A CONTRIBUTION HERE
Content creators in Rwanda will be paying taxes in the U.S.

YouTube is set to start deducting taxes from creators outside of US on the earnings they generate from viewers in the US, the Google-owned company said in an email to all creators including in Rwanda.

YouTube has also asked creators to submit their tax information in AdSense “to determine the correct amount of taxes to deduct”.

The changes apply to all creators outside of the US, including the ones in Rwanda and the new policy will begin from as early as June 2021.

However, there won’t be any similar tax deduction for creators living in the US.

Last week, The Chronicles in a rare probe, reported about how young Rwandans are flooding to YouTube.

ALSO READ: As Controversial As YouTube Has Become in Rwanda, It Is a Cash Cow For Many

In a support page, YouTube said that its parent company Google has the responsibility under Chapter 3 of the US Internal Revenue Code to collect tax information, withhold taxes, and report to the Internal Revenue Service when a creator earned royalty revenue from viewers in the US. This has resulted in the implementation of the new tax requirements for YouTube earnings.

“If any tax deductions apply, Google will withhold taxes on YouTube earnings from viewers in the US from ad views, YouTube Premium, Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Channel Memberships,” the company in its support page.

YouTube has informed creators about the update and has asked them to provide their tax information in their AdSense account as early as possible. If a creator isn’t able to provide the information by May 31, the company said that it might need to deduct up to 24 percent of their total earnings worldwide.

However, if a creator has provided their tax information, there will be a withholding between 0–30 percent on the earnings they generate from viewers in the US. The withholding rates notably depend on whether the country of the creator has a tax treaty relationship with the US. This means that there will be variation in the deduction of taxes for creators in different countries.

Many creators are criticising YouTube for the tax deductions planned — given the fact that the company already takes a cut of revenue from the ads it serves on the platform. The change is also believed to largely affect small creators who don’t have millions of subscribers to attract sponsors for native advertisements.

YouTube offers monetisation to creators under the YouTube Partner Programme that requires creator accounts to have at least 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months and over 1,000 subscribers.

However, last year, the company updated its terms of service to make way for running ads on videos created by small creators who aren’t a part of the YouTube Partner Programme and aren’t generating any direct earnings from the platform. That move also invoked some anger among creators who weren’t generating any Google AdSense revenues.

We can't do quality journalism without your support

Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue are declining, The Chronicles remains committed to "Serving Your Right To Know The Truth". Stand with us as we document Rwanda's remarkable journey for you and the future generation. Do you value our journalism? We can't do it without you. Show us with your support by CONTRIBUTING HERE.
Email your news TIPS to info@chronicles.rw or WhatsApp +250788351327.
You can also find us on Signal

81 Comments

  1. Asking questions are actually good thing if you are not understanding something fully, but this paragraph presents
    nice understanding yet.

  2. I am curious to find out what blog platform you have been utilizing?
    I’m experiencing some minor security problems
    with my latest blog and I would like to find something
    more secure. Do you have any recommendations?

  3. Its such as you learn my thoughts! You appear to understand so much about
    this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I feel
    that you simply can do with a few p.c. to pressure the message house a little bit, however other than that, that is excellent blog.

    An excellent read. I will definitely be back.

  4. Greate article. Keep writing such kind of info on your site.
    Im really impressed by your blog.
    Hey there, You’ve performed a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it
    and in my view suggest to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this website.

  5. What i do not realize is in reality how you’re not really a lot more smartly-appreciated than you might be now.
    You’re so intelligent. You know thus considerably when it comes to this subject, made me
    in my view imagine it from a lot of various angles.
    Its like men and women aren’t involved until it is something to do with Lady gaga!
    Your personal stuffs great. All the time maintain it up!

  6. A motivating discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write
    more about this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but usually people don’t speak about these subjects.
    To the next! Kind regards!!

  7. you are really a good webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing. It sort of feels that you’re doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you have performed a wonderful task on this subject!

  8. Having read this I thought it was very enlightening.
    I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this informative article together.

    I once again find myself personally spending a
    lot of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  9. When some one searches for his vital thing, thus he/she wishes to be available that in detail, therefore that thing
    is maintained over here.

  10. Fantastic goods from you, man. I have understand
    your stuff previous to and you’re just too fantastic.
    I really like what you have acquired here, certainly
    like what you are saying and the way in which you say it.
    You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it sensible.

    I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is really a terrific web site.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *