YouTube to deduct US taxes from content creators in Nigeria, other countries

YouTube would start deducting United States taxes from payments to creators outside the country from June 2021.

“We’re reaching out because Google will be required to deduct U.S taxes from payments to creators outside of the U.S. later this year (as early as June 2021),” Google said in a email to content creators.

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll be asking you to submit your tax info in AdSense to determine the correct amount of taxes to deduct, if any apply. If your tax info isn’t provided by May 31st, 2021, Google may be required to deduct up to 24% of your total earnings worldwide.”

Earnings made from YouTube Premium, Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Channel Memberships will be taxable.

A post on Google support page  said YouTube will be going this route because it has a responsibility under Chapter 3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code to collect tax info, withhold taxes, and report to the Internal Revenue Service (the U.S. tax authority, also known as the IRS) when a YPP creator on YouTube earns royalty revenue from viewers in the U.S.

The content creator platform said if content creator do not provide their tax information by May 31, 2021, Google may be required to deduct up to 24% of their total earnings worldwide. That means for every $100 made on the platform from the US views, Google may deduct up to $24.

This, however, applies to all creators outside of the US, including the ones in Nigeria. The new policy would only apply to income earned from viewers within the United States.

The Google-owned company said the new policy will take effect as early as June 2021 and urged creators to put submit their tax info before then.

YouTube with over 2 billion users worldwide has been a useful platform for anyone with creativity and determination to make money from producing videos.

Many creators have made a living from YouTube across the world.