An Average of 1.4 Billion Won in Taxes per Person, Including 'Super Chats'... 23.9 Billion Won Imposed on 17 YouTubers Last Year

Tax Audits Conducted on 84 YouTubers from 2019 to 2025
Total Tax Imposed Rises from 8.9 Billion Won to 23.9 Billion Won
Sponsorships Such as Super Chat Also Subject to Taxation, Not Just Advertising Revenue

As tax audits continue for some YouTubers who have earned billions of won in revenue, it has been revealed that a total of 23.9 billion won in taxes was imposed on 17 YouTubers who underwent tax audits last year. The average amount imposed per person reached approximately 1.4 billion won.

According to an analysis by Yonhap News on September 25 of the "2019–2025 Planned Tax Audit Results for YouTubers," submitted by Assemblyman Jung Taeho, a member of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee, the Regional National Tax Service conducted tax audits on a total of 84 YouTubers from 2019 through last year. The total amount of taxes imposed on these individuals amounted to 47.5 billion won.

By year, the number of tax audit targets increased from 22 between 2019 and 2022 (over four years) to 24 in 2023. Afterwards, the number decreased to 21 in 2024 and 17 last year. On the other hand, the amount of taxes imposed rose from 5.6 billion won in 2019–2022 to 9.1 billion won in 2023, and 8.9 billion won in 2024. Last year, it surged significantly to 23.9 billion won. The average tax imposed per person last year was approximately 1.4 billion won.

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However, this amount includes not only taxes on income generated from YouTube, but also taxes imposed on all business income earned by the business operators. The taxable income for YouTubers includes not only advertising revenue but also sponsorships, such as "super chats" received from viewers. The National Tax Service guides that YouTubers, internet broadcast hosts, and creators who continuously produce content for profit need to register as a business entity and file a comprehensive income tax return.

This year, for the first time, the National Tax Service began providing business status filing guidance specifically for creators of YouTube and other one-person media content. At the same time, it is conducting tax audits on online content business operators suspected of tax evasion. In February, the agency selected 16 business operators as subjects for investigation, including three malicious "cyber wrecker" operators, seven YouTubers specializing in real estate or tax, and six YouTubers who distributed false or inappropriate content.

A total of 23.9 billion KRW in taxes were imposed on 17 YouTubers who underwent tax audits last year. Pixabay Pixabay

Assemblyman Jung stated, "Cases of large-scale tax evasion continue to be confirmed among the individual earnings of one-person media creators such as YouTubers, including sponsorship income," adding that institutional improvements are needed to reduce taxation blind spots.

Meanwhile, during the prior investigations from 2019 to 2024, a total of 23.6 billion won was imposed on 67 YouTubers. The amount of 23.9 billion won imposed on 17 YouTubers last year represents approximately a 2.7-fold increase from the previous year’s figure of 8.9 billion won, despite a reduction in the number of those audited.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.