Didn’t pay any attention to Tuesday night’s 2018/19 Federal Budget? Don’t worry, us either. That was until we heard it was going to have a big impact on the people in the very industry we work with. Bugger. Serves us right for never keeping up with politics.
So if you were like us and missed the whole thing, we’ve outlined just what the influencer market needs to know about the new “fame tax” set to come into effect on July 1, 2018 (and while we know we really should look over the rest of it – we’ll just wait until someone tells us that life as we know it is about to change. Until then, you’ll find us on Instagram…)
What happens currently:
High profile people (i.e. influencers, celebrities, sports stars, singers etc) can licence their image rights to a business, which can claim losses on the investment, and then pay 30 per cent tax on the profits.
What’s about to happen:
According to the Budget, the new Fame Tax “will ensure that all remuneration (including payments and non-cash benefits) provided for the commercial exploitation of a person’s fame or image will be included in the assessable income of that individual.” It is believed the money raised from this change is “unquantifiable”.
What this means for influencers:
Basically, one big HUGE headache for your accountant! But… our suggestion would be to keep a track of what monetary profits and product/travel/hotel etc benefits you receive over the course of the year so that you don’t run the risk of getting in trouble when it comes to tax time come July 1, 2019.
Now enough finance talk from us, back to the Gram…
All images: Kylie Jenner
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