How much can ‘influencers’ earn and how does this group that is targeted by the SRI pay taxes?

Dances, stories, adventures, cooking recipes, healthy living, humor, phonomimics… in a word: entertainment are the contents that increasingly capture the attention of consumers on social networks. Those who make this type of content and are accepted and influence the public that watches them can be defined as influencers. Many of them are young and even minors. They, in turn, are searched for brands of various products that are advertised in those spaces. Additionally, they can bill or monetize for the number of followers or subscribers they have.

To the influencers They can be found in the vast world of social networks: Facebook, Onlyfans, Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok, among others. In Ecuador, several, they even exist rankings by the number of followers in the networks themselves.

Among them, for example, Kevlex is known with 18.8 million followers; busta-brothers, with 21 million followers; Antonny Swagg, with 8.8 million; Gina López (ginaalopeez) with 2.6 million followers, among dozens of others.

How much can they bill? “When you work well, you can live well,” Swagg commented last October in an interview on the MofleTv YouTube channel. In that space there was talk of being able to earn $10,000 or $15,000 a month. He replied that he can earn $20,000 and more: “I was in a range for a few months to earn up to $40,000.” In a pandemic, this 30-year-old young man with ten years on social networks uploaded up to three videos a day and said that “on social networks you can bill well. That ‘video’ that was hard for you to think about, write, even if it’s homemade, can generate income. Likewise advertising on social networks.

meet the influencers Ecuadorians is interesting, especially because they are in the Tax Justice plan that will be implemented by the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) in 2023. One of the edges for collection points, according to what the director of the SRI, Francisco Briones, has said, to this group and those who generate income in social networks.

The tax expert, Napoleón Santamaría, published a few days ago on his Twitter account a table on the certain influencers They have gained notoriety, but when it comes time to see their tax payment is almost non-existent. For example, it puts Kikejav, Tami Rivera, Ely Guaminga, Alejandra Jaramillo, among others, on that list.

According to Santamaría, it is important that these characters be monitored by the SRI as youtubers either tiktokers, because surely they are generating income and it is correct that they are charged taxes on what they generate like the other citizens of the country. For Santamaría, the influencers They are only a small sample of what is generated with electronic commerce and which should also begin to look.

He comments that when trying to identify who they are influencers and what income they generate has been met with a general comment among them. The influencers They consider that they are not generating income because their earnings are in virtual currencies, or because they received things, goods, instead of money, or because they were paid in the Bahamas in a virtual wallet. However, it explains that any profit that is generated is income, be it in currency or kind. He also explains that a influencers receives income from companies to promote their brands.

For Santamaría, the influencers The tax residents of Ecuador who generate resources that can be considered income will have to pay.

Meanwhile, Cristian Espinosa, director of Digital Coverage -training or training company in social networks-, explains that in the digital world there are classifications of influencers according to the number of followers. For example, macro influencers are celebrities, people who have more than 500,000 followers or subscribers. There is the average influencer, who goes from 100,000 to 499,000 followers. Another type are micro-influencers with followers between 10,000 and 99,000. On the other hand, nanoinfluencers are those who have less than 10,000 followers.

However, for Espinosa, followers are not a clear indicator of whether they bill or not. There are cases in which the followers are fake accounts. In any case, he agrees that what the SRI will seek in this sector will be to collect taxes from those who are actually generating resources.

He says that the phenomenon of social networks grew significantly during the pandemic. And he cites an interesting movement that exists in the province of Zamora Chinchipe. From this area of ​​Ecuador, a series of interesting contents come out that have gained followers, such as micro-novels or natural recipes and even permaculture.

Fit Strawberry (Valeria), a micro-influencer focused on wellness, sports, nutrition and with a total of 18,000 followers, says that from her experience advertising agencies approach the influencers to promote certain brands. All you receive as influencers it is reported and taxed as a marketing and advertising activity. A few days ago, after hearing that there was going to be greater control over the influencers On behalf of the SRI, their community of friends commented that the situation would not change much in their cases, since taxes have always been paid. She tells that the influencers can invoice, regardless of whether they are small or large. It all depends on what the brand wants and the audience to which the product can be directed. influencer. In certain cases, brands may look for something a little more specific, or lean towards something more massive. (YO)