Ruto wants Kenyan content creators to pay taxes

Speaking during the celebration of Kenya Private Sector Alliance’s 20th Anniversary in Nairobi, the president explained that the deal enabled Kenyan content creators to commercialise content and now earn millions in the digital space. 

Ruto pointed out that it would only be fair for the State to tax such content creators to enable an equal environment for all taxpayers. 

"I negotiated with TikTok and Facebook, making Kenya one of only four countries where creators can monetize their accounts," he remarked. 

"Some creators now earn up to Ksh.1 million. Someone earning Ksh.20,000 or Ksh.30,000 pays tax, if you earn Ksh.1 million, isn't it correct to contribute something to the tax kitty especially when we've enabled you to achieve that? I think that makes sense, at least to me," he added. 

The State has already initiated plans to tax the digital space through the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which is expected to include digital operators into the tax bracket.

Following public participation, the bill is set to undergo a Second Reading in Parliament. 

In April, Ruto said the government had signed an agreement with Google, META, and TikTok to monetise content produced by Kenyan content creators. 

"Our highly talented youth are capable of creative excellence in such diverse fields as music, theatre and drama, graphic design and digital animation, fashion and craft, as well as new and emerging fields like virtual and augmented reality," Ruto said. 

Ruto's remarks of Kenya being one of four countries monetising creators' content contradicts Google monetisation policies, stating that 12 African countries are on YouTube's monetised markets. 

These include Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa,  Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Egypt. Algeria, Ghana, and Libya. 

For Meta, the platform has been providing the monetisation option for content creators for quite some time but the options were limited to brands and sponsored campaigns.

Currently, more options are available including payments for Reel's content.