One-Person YouTuber's Reported Monthly Income Last Year: 1.78 Million Won

First Disclosure of Income Reporting Data for Solo YouTubers
Reported Numbers Insufficient Compared to Actual Active Participants

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The average monthly reported income of solo YouTubers who produce and host broadcasts alone was calculated to be 1.78 million KRW.

According to data disclosed on the 11th by Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, received from the National Tax Service, there were 58 "single-person media creator tax-exempt business operators" (hereafter 1-person YouTubers) who submitted business status reports for the 2019 tax year, with a total reported income of 1.241 billion KRW. This amounts to about 1.78 million KRW per month per 1-person YouTuber.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Although the number of reported individuals is minimal compared to the actual active population, Representative Yang explained that this is the first time income report data for 1-person YouTubers has been secured since the tax authorities established a new industry code for "media content creators."

As of last September, a total of 691 YouTubers registered as business operators after the establishment of the "media content creator" code. Among them, 332 are "single-person media content creators" (tax-exempt business operators) without employees or facilities, and 359 are "media content creation businesses" (taxable business operators) with employees and facilities.

According to data previously submitted by the National Tax Service to the Planning and Finance Committee, the income reported by taxable "corporate-type" YouTubers for the second half of last year, declared earlier this year, totaled 18.49 billion KRW. The average monthly income per person calculated from the second half income report alone is 9.33 million KRW, which is more than five times the 1-person YouTuber average monthly income (1.78 million KRW) derived from the entire last year's tax year.

A representative from Yang Hyang-ja's office stated, "The number of business registrations is low compared to the number of YouTubers with many subscribers, and income reporting is minimal," adding, "The National Tax Service should actively support the sincere reporting of media creators."