Speaker: Prof. Dr. Karolina Tetlak, University of Warsaw (Poland)

Youtubers, streamers, and social media influencers earn their living in ways that traditional tax systems were never designed to handle: ad revenue from YouTube, sponsored posts on Instagram, Twitch streaming subscriptions, brand collaborations, and even product placement in videos.

This lecture looked at how international tax law tries to keep pace with these new business models. It discussed how creators are classified for tax purposes, what happens when a digital nomad influencer has no clear country of residence, and how cross-border income is allocated under double tax treaties.

Special attention was given to the treaty provisions most relevant for this sector: Articles 7, 14, and 17 of the OECD Model, and to the practical challenges of withholding tax when payments flow through global platforms like Google or Meta. Real-world examples showed how a Serbian YouTuber working with a Polish or German brand, or a lifestyle influencer based in Dubai, might be taxed differently depending on the structure of their deals.

Finally, the lecture considered how tax authorities are responding to new sources of revenue such as NFTs, metaverse appearances, and virtual sponsorships, and why enforcing tax rules in the creator economy is becoming one of the toughest challenges for governments worldwide.