Influencers and income tax: analysis of the types of income generated by influencers for promoting products and services on social media

Abstract

On social media, influencers have established themselves as individuals capable of influencing the way their followers become aware of and acquire products or services. In exchange for the promotion they carry out through their social media accounts, they receive compensation in cash or in kind. This raises a fundamental question: how should such compensation be classified for income tax purposes?

In this article, the author concludes that such income may constitute income from capital, labor, or business activities, and not solely business income, as asserted by SUNAT in Report 000044-2022-SUNAT/7T0000. To support this conclusion, the author begins with a detailed description of the influencer business and the most common structures through which they promote products and services on digital media. On that basis, she analyzes scenarios in which personal labor predominates over the use of capital in generating income, as well as others in which personal labor is minimal or even nonexistent compared to capital.