I have been thinking a lot about blogging lately. Mostly because of international taxes.
Taxes! Who would’ve thought that when I launched this endeavor 21 years ago that I would be tackling such hip and relatable topics such as international tax law.
When you move to a new country, you learn new things in phases. First the obvious things, like which side of the road to drive on and where to buy expensive cheese. Later, the cultural things, like songs that are more popular here than anywhere else or the sort of cheap improvised sandwiches people had for dinner as kids. And, still later, a bunch of dry, uninteresting things about international tax law.
That is what lead E and I to have a video meeting with a knowledgable but-also-hilarious tax professional last week.
(That’s really my ideal balance for any sort of professional advisor. Completely reliable, incredibly funny. Leave no stone unturned and put me at ease.)
As part of meeting with any tax professional, you are inevitably going to discuss all of your income, assets, and expenses. Which means in the middle of a lot of very serious talk about very adult topics, I had to broach the topic of blogging. Not just blogging, but blogging, comic books, YouTube-ing – my whole internet package.
Awesome Tax Person: “I see you have listed some items related to your website.”
Me: “Yes,”
ATP: “Do you sell a product or service?”
Me: “No.”
ATP: “Do you get paid to write?”
Me: “Not quite.”
ATP: “Hold on. Are you some sort of influencer?”
Me: [shaking my head vigorously in dissent]
E: [nodding her head in agreement and cackling]
ATP: “Oh, how interesting! The revenue department just put out a very interesting memo on internet influencers and I wasn’t sure if I’d need to reference it, but now I do!”
Dear readers, when I tell you that the Awesome Tax Person said this last part with obvious verve and glee you will understand why I enjoyed her so much. [Read more…] about the influencer tax
