KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 —Influencers still need to be taxpayers even if they do not get regular payments like employees who receive a fixed income every month.

Putrajaya Regional Inland Revenue Board (IRB) principal assistant director Rohaizad Abd Fandi said the group has to comply with the tax laws even though their income might not be taxable because it did not exceed the threshold value.

"In general, the income of these influencers is included in the digital economy. According to the market, influencer marketing in Malaysia, Micro Influencers are those who have more than 10,000 followers on social media and are estimated to earn an average of five jobs promoting goods and services in a month.

"The Macro Influencer, meanwhile, has over 100,000 followers and makes it a full-time career by helping brands promote their products or services on social media.

"This is where such influencers earn a lot of income and are eligible to be taxed,” he said as a guest on Bernama Radio’s Tax Clinic programme, entitled ‘Influencers, Great Tax Influencers’, here today.

According to Rohaizad, influencers can also be taxed under the category of individual taxpayers with business income for receiving profits from running a business, trade, search or profession including businesses that are not registered with any authority.

He said for this category of taxpayers, influencers need to submit the Income Tax Return Form (BNCP) using form B through the e-Filing service that can be accessed on the MyTax portal to report their income.

"They have to submit the form before June 30 every year and if they are eligible to be taxed they have to pay the tax before June 30 of that year. All business documents and records also need to be kept for seven years either electronically or manually.

"Among the documents that need to be kept include domestic and private expenses; bank statements; income statements from advertising companies; invoice and confirmation of sales and purchase transactions, as well as agreement documents between influencers and companies that hire them for the purpose of reviewing products or services,” he said.

Rohaizad said failure to keep taxation records would result in the risk of expenditure claims or tax relief being denied and could be charged with a fine not exceeding RM10,000 and imprisonment of up to 12 months or both.

Influencers, he said do not need to worry about reporting income to the IRB because their taxable income can be reduced by tax relief claimed based on the amount of income such as rental claims for work purposes and so on.

"Compliance with tax laws is not only an individual’s responsibility, but also a contribution to national development. Influencers, as the voice of the community, should take an active role in setting a good example for the community in matters of taxation,” he said.

He said the IRB will organise a National Taxation Seminar on Oct 23 and Oct 29 and those who want to participate can register at seminar.hasil.gov.my. — Bernama