It's unfavourable to tax content creators; our sector isn't buoyant yet — Kwadwo Sheldon

Popular Ghanaian YouTuber and content creator Bernard Kwadwo Amoafo, known widely as Kwadwo Sheldon has voiced his opposition to the government's plans to tax Ghanaians who earn foreign income, including income earned by content creators from global platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.

Sheldon argues that taxing content creators at this stage will negatively impact the budding creator economy in Ghana.

In an interview with BBC, Sheldon explained that taxing online content creators now would not be favorable as the creator sector in Ghana is still developing and not very profitable.

“We are building, it's not buoyant yet. So if you keep taxing us, how much are we going to earn at the end of the day?" he said.

Sheldon pointed out that many content creators in Ghana are still in the development phase and have not reached a level where they can comfortably pay taxes on their foreign earnings from platforms.

He noted that by the time content creators pay taxes to their host countries like the US and then pay taxes in Ghana, they would be left with very little income.

"Now, even before the YouTube money comes in, they will take their own. The US government will take their own. At the end of the day, let’s say you earn $1,000 a month, you will be walking home with $500,” said the YouTuber.

He further argued that content creators in Ghana are already paying taxes through other means like VAT and personal income taxes of contractors.

Imposing more taxes will significantly reduce what creators take home, according to Sheldon.

The YouTuber suggested that the Ghanaian government could instead support the growth of the creator sector by collaborating with online platforms like other countries are doing, to help creators monetize their work and earn more.

He believes exempting online creators from taxes for now will allow the industry to grow robustly before taxation.