Kwadwo Sheldon quizzes government over taxation of content creators.
YouTuber Kwadwo Sheldon has said that it is unfavourable for the government to tax content creators in the country considering that the creative economy is in its budding stages.
According to him, Ghanaian content creators face challenges monetising their content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and others.
He said that despite having many social media platforms, Ghanaian content creators only make earnings on YouTube, where although income is assured, it is not as much as people anticipate.
Speaking to BBC’s Daniel Dadzie, Kwadwo Sheldon said “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.
Contrary to popular belief, Kwadwo Sheldon said that content creators although previously did not pay direct tax on earnings, paid other taxes regardless.
Additionally, creators who have employed others pay them and ensure that their taxes are filed, he stated.
“When we make money from brands, they take a VAT, everything. So it’s not like we are not paying. We are paying and you are introducing more. So at the end of the day, what you get is a paltry sum.”
“When you go to Nigeria recently, their government talked with the owners of Facebook to open up for their content creators to make money. Kenya, they did the same. What has our government done? Nothing,” Kwadwo Sheldon noted.
In 2023, the GRA announced that it was expanding its tax collection base to include influencers, bloggers, content creators, MCs and others.\
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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.
