The Registrar General of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, disclosed on Tuesday, February 13, that social media content creators, Instagram users with larger followers, and TikTok users will soon be forced to register as businesses so they can start paying taxes to the government.
The RG disclosed this during a visit by the managing director, Opay, Dauda Gotring, and his team in Abuja, stating that the social media and content creators are generating a lot of money without paying any form of tax to the federal government.
This is coming amidst alleged plans by the Federal Inland Revenue Services to onboard media content and influencers into its tax system.
Magaji said, “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It is stated in the Company and Allied Matters 2020 that for any business to take place in Nigeria, whether you are doing business with your name or another name, you must surrender your business for registration.
If you are a content creator on the internet and you have a large followership and you are gaining or making money from it, you must register and that’s the provision of the law. And we are all out to enforce the provision of the law with its penalties.”
He added that the commission will soon begin compliance checks to ensure these businesses start paying their taxes to the government.
He added, “This cannot go on, these groups of people are under mandate to register as a business considering the amount they make from the content creation. The government is all out to ensure every business in Nigeria, no matter what or how, is registered with the CAC.”
See reactions below;
mheenarh__: They wont provide job opportunities and still be d!sturbing those that are self employed😏 Shey na government dey give them ideas or na una buy them ringlight?
iamdikeh: Thank God im not a content creator 🚶🏽♂️.
chiamakaugoo: You lots didn’t provide anything for the youths, they provided for themselves and you still want to extort them… failed government.
daddyfreeze: Inside the social media wey una wan regulate? 🤷.
_daveszn: Milking the citizens at every opportunity they get🙏🏽.
zaddysokoh: Content creators that u have never given grants to even kick off? The boys & girls who struggled to start a hustle with their phones ? Without light? Facebook has blacklisted Nigeria from monetizing contents and you haven’t done anything about it , yet you want to tax them from what income ? The one YouTube already deducts 30 percent tax from ? lol well include tax for olosho as well as churches 😬.