Müssen Influencer Geschenke versteuern

Do influencers have to pay tax on gifts?

In recent years, the profes­sion of influencer has incre­asingly deve­loped from a hobby for indi­vi­duals to a lucra­tive acti­vity for a large number of people.

Money can be earned on the social media chan­nels Insta­gram, TikTok, Snap­chat, YouTube and Face­book with product reviews, spon­sored posts or by parti­ci­pa­ting in events.

As soon as influen­cers carry out a commer­cial acti­vity inde­pendently and sustain­ably to gene­rate income, they are entre­pre­neurs. Whether and which taxes they have to pay depends on the indi­vi­dual tax laws. Of parti­cular rele­vance is the obli­ga­tion to pay income tax, trade tax and value-added tax.

Profits from acti­vi­ties as an influencer gene­rally trigger the follo­wing taxes:

With regard to income tax, an annual basic allo­wance of 10908 euros applies (as of 2023; the basic allo­wance also refers to income from other acti­vi­ties, e.g. as an employee); if the income is higher, income tax must be paid.

Trade tax is payable on profits in excess of 24500 euros.

There is an obli­ga­tion to pay sales tax if the turnover in the previous year was more than 22000 euros, other­wise the small busi­ness regu­la­tion applies.

However, the tax rele­vance of the acti­vity as an influencer is often misjudged. This is parti­cu­larly the case because those affected are often unaware of the tax signi­fi­cance of their actions.

Uncer­tain­ties exist above all if the influencer does not receive any mone­tary amount for their acti­vity. This raises the ques­tion of whether and how free trips, hotel stays, donated products or invi­ta­tions to events are taxable.

In prin­ciple, the goods/services received repre­sent income in the form of non-cash bene­fits, which are taxable under income tax or sales and trade tax.

The value of the goods must gene­rally be reco­gnized as opera­ting income.

If the Influencer* uses the goods exclu­si­vely for busi­ness purposes, he/she may claim busi­ness expenses in the amount of the value of the goods/services received free of charge (either imme­diate deduc­tion for low-value assets or depre­cia­tion over the useful life).

If, on the other hand, he/she uses the goods/services purely for private purposes, they must be taxed as with­dra­wals incre­asing profits.

The follo­wing excep­tions apply:

  • If the value of an item given as a gift does not exceed 10 euros, it consti­tutes a so-called scatter article and is ther­e­fore not taxable
  • Articles that are only received for test purposes and subse­quently returned do not have to be taxed
  • The donor (manu­fac­turer of a product) can tax the product at a flat rate of 30 percent accor­ding to § 37b EStG if the value of the gift does not exceed 10000 euros

Are you an influencer, content creator, or in a similar role and have ques­tions about tax law, criminal law, or tax criminal law? Then you’ve come to the right place. We specia­lize in these areas and offer you compre­hen­sive advice—whether it’s preven­tive guidance or repre­sen­ta­tion in ongoing procee­dings. Rely on our exper­tise and expe­ri­ence as your trusted and specia­lized partner. Feel free to contact us—we’re here to support you.

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