Tax Law: Content Creator Reacts After Seeing Huge Tax Deduction on YouTube Pay, Mistakenly Blames FG
- A Nigerian content creator got many people talking online after showing the amount that was deducted from his pay
- He shared a screenshot showing the amount he was paid by YouTube and what was deducted as tax by the government
- The individual immediately shifted blame to the Nigerian government but later realised his mistake and shared an update
A Nigerian man who is a content creator on YouTube cried out online after he discovered that a big amount had been deducted from his pay as tax.
He took to social media to make the statement while also sharing a screenshot showing the amount he was paid and the figure that was deducted.
Source: Twitter
Man mistakenly blames Nigerian government
The statement of the young man comes amid the controversy surrounding the implementation of the new tax law in Nigeria.
While several individuals have mentioned that their salary increased in line with the new tax reform, the statement from the man immediately caught attention, as he initially thought the tax deducted from his account was to be paid to the Nigerian government; however, he later realised his mistake.
According to a post he made on his X page, @Daygenius wrote that he made a specific amount from YouTube, and shared the amount deducted as tax.
"I made $106 from YouTube… Tinubu comot $25… on a norms na $4 dem dey comot ooh.
"Na this month end all the content creators for Naija go join the movement to change this govt. cos this new tax law is fuc.king ridiculously insane."
Source: Twitter
He initially linked the deductions to the new tax law in Nigeria; however, he later realised his mistake upon discovering that the deduction was for the United States government, not for Nigeria.
He wrote below the post:
"Make Una no vex… @grok say na Trump tax me not Tinubu. Okay agbado people, e don do. I don fold ehn. I’m DayGenius not TaxGenius."
Before he made the clarification, many people had already seen his initial post where he mistakenly blamed the Nigerian government for the deduction, and they took to the comments page to share their thoughts.
Reactions as man reacts to tax deductions
@lexyy4real stressed:
"You’re very wrong..The $25 that was deducted belongs to the US..what Nigeria will tax is what is left but you’re not qualified to pay tax on that amount because it is below the threshold."
@Dominik2DWurld_ noted:
"You made $130+ nd they took their tax and youre left with $81. Omorr una dey try oh."
@ex_neighbour stressed:
"So una no dey pay tax before? And finally don touch una papa."
@AOEHybrid shared:
"Sometimes, I feel people make posts like this intentionally to rile others up, shameful."
@Obalurge said:
"Nigeria does not have tax treaty with the US, the tax here isn't paid to the Nigerian government and it's quite normal."
The content creator had gone viral after he made a statement following the heavy deductions on his earnings.
The deduction came at a time the Nigerian government introduced a new tax system, so the reduction in his payment as a result of the heavy tax deduction made him attribute it to the policy of the Nigerian government.
However, he eventually clarified after carrying out some investigation on his own.
In an exclusive chat with Legit.ng, he poured out his mind and explained what he felt immediately he saw the tax deductions from his pay slip and what he came to understand later.
He continued:
"Yeah, so my first reaction was that I was very shocked because I've been a YouTube content creator for a while now. Although my earnings were always very small. I earn between $100 and $150 in two or three months, so it is not like a real full-time thing for me."
"So regularly, even when I earn something like $106 in a month, the tax there is like $2 or $3. Sometimes, if I earn $120, they might deduct maybe $5. It is always less than $5."
"So this year I did some very nice content and, I am about to earn like $100 monthly. So in January, when they sent me my payment breakdown, I saw that twenty-something dollars was deducted because the payout was like $103 and twenty-something dollars. I was shocked."
"I was like, you know, because of the current trend that the government is about to increase taxes, they can remove the tax from your account. The rumor was that they could remove the tax from your account balance since they have your BVN information. So I did not really think about it much, but you know I was hearing the rumor and I already had this bias or this preconception that this stuff could happen. But I never thought it could happen to me."
"So when I got the breakdown, because they first send the breakdown before they send it to my domiciliary account, I saw that I had $103 and I am receiving only $80. So that is like a whopping twenty-something dollars. That is like twenty percent. I was there like wow."
"So I was so shocked like why? Why is this happening?"
"So I called the government and everything. A lot of people were educating me and saying it is Trump, it is this, it is that. So I did more research with AI and it broke it down for me. The Nigerian government does not tax that particular payment directly from YouTube. It is the US government."
After he confirmed that his tax was deducted and why it was in such an amount, he explained that the amount deducted could have been less if he had taken some steps before his money was paid.
He continued:
"Then I found out the reason why I was charged about $20 was because my tax filing had expired. Once the tax filing expires, according to YouTube or US law, they are going to take a big chunk until you file it again. Then they will do something like a cashback or tax return."
"So now we have filed my tax information and everything, so I will be paying about $2 to $5 in tax, not twenty percent like I thought it would be."
Read the X post below:
In a similar story, Legit.ng recently reported that a young man shared online that his friend’s salary increased under the new tax law. He checked his friend’s payslip and noticed that ₦30,000 had been added.
Man happy about tax reform
Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that a young Nigerian man said his salary went up after the new tax law started. He said he got an extra ₦3,750 and was happy about it.
Other people also shared that their salaries increased because of the new law. Many people online talked about it and shared their own experiences.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
