Telegram, with a potential revenue of $3-4 million from the Ukrainian market in 2024, have to pay taxes in Ukraine

Yurii Gaidai, senior economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy, says that in 2024, Telegram’s total revenue from advertising and subscriptions could reach $160 million.

“It is possible to force Telegram to pay taxes, the company pays them in those countries where it is required by law, this is, in particular, stated in the rules for using Telegram. First of all, in the form of a “Google tax”, which is essentially a digital services tax (DST), and which is already paid by about a hundred large digital companies such as Google, Meta, Etsy, or OnlyFans.

Taking into account the share of Ukrainian users, Telegram’s revenue from the Ukrainian market in 2024 will be at least $3-4 million. This will be 120-160 times higher than the minimum threshold for the amount of transactions for the supply of electronic services, after which a non-resident company is obliged to register as a taxpayer in Ukraine,” says Gaidai.

According to him, if Telegram has not registered and has not started declaring and paying the relevant taxes, the State Tax Service may impose penalties and seek assistance in collecting taxes from the tax authority of the country of registration. The income of telegram channel owners, if they are residents of Ukraine, should be taxed as part of the taxation of business income or personal income.

“Of course, in the case of ‘shadow’ activities, it will be difficult and sometimes economically unjustified for the State Tax Service to ‘reach out’ to the owners of telegram channels, but in the case of the largest channels, it is advisable to do so, because they receive significant revenues and must pay taxes that go to finance the defence forces. Ultimately, in my opinion, Telegram should be banned as a threat to national security. But until it is banned, Durov’s company should at least fill the budget,” the economist said.

Origin: Detector media.