The recently released guidance on tax treatment for influencers by the Irish Revenue Commissioners (“Irish Revenue”), Part 04-01-22 on Taxation of Income from Social Media and Promotional Activities and The VAT treatment of Social Media Influencers, meaning that your PR, free gifts and experiences are now firmly on Revenue’s radar, and unreported collaborations can lead to tax trouble.

Rules around content creation and taxation are changing. If you’re a content creator in Ireland, or abroad, there’s one thing you need to understand before your next collaboration (and it's not what saturation level looks best on your thumbnail). 

Under new rules, any money received from social media or UGC (User Generated Content) is liable to tax, even when the activity is done on a casual basis and is not your main source of income. 

• Yes, even if no money changed hands.

• Yes, even if it was “just a story.”

• Yes, even if the brand called it a "partnership" "ambassadorship" or "PR". 

Non-cash benefits like press trips, hotel stays or flights, provided in exchange for promotion are also generally considered taxable income. 

And here's the part most creators never hear: 

If you don’t provide evidence of the value, tax authorities will assume the highest possible market value. 

"the value of the item under general accounting principles would generally be its fair value, being the price at which a transaction to sell the item would take place in the marketplace" . 

So what does all of this mean? Understanding the rules is the hard part, while staying compliant is surprisingly simple.

Here’s what every content creator should be doing to keep up with their tax obligations. 

Track every gifted collaboration (regardless of value).  

Keep proof of what you have posted (stories disappear, tax audits don't). 

Record brand expectations (expectation= deliverable = taxable). 

Store all your documentation for up to six years.  

Prepare your yearly statements (paperwork now means peace of mind later). 

The good news is, all of this can now be done automatically by AnotherTrip. 

If this sounds like a lot to manage, that's because it is, but the new tool does it for you by:

✔️ Providing fully exportable audit packs.  

✔️ Producing dual-invoices (keeping you and the brands you work with compliant). 

✔️ Automatically checking all previous content for collaborations and gifts, and compiling records. 

✔️ Creating valuations of all gifted items, reflective of the up-to-date market pricing. 

All provided in a single secure dashboard, to keep you on top of your tax obligations. 

Information provided courtesy of the Revenue Commissioners under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. 

The above service and information is not affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by Revenue. It is an independently developed resource. The information contained in this article is intended for educational use only and should not replace professional advice. AnotherTrip advises to seek support from a qualified tax advisor for any specific queries. 

References:

1.  https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-04/04-01-22.pdf