Content creators under mandate to register as businesses – Magaji, CAC boss

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has encouraged social media content creators with large numbers of followers to register with the commission in accordance with the Company and Allied Matters Act 2020.

The Registrar General, CAC, Hussaini Magaji, gave the charge today when the Managing Director, OPAY, Dauda Gotring, and his team paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.

The visit from the Opay team was to facilitate the regularisation of 300,000 agents and merchants with the commission, which will further encourage businesses, create more jobs for Nigerians, and expand the tax net. 

Magaji stated that social media and content creators are generating a lot of money without paying any form of tax to the Federal Government.

He said, “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It is stated in the Company and Allied Matters 2020 that for any business to take place in Nigeria, whether you are doing business with your name or another name, you must surrender your business for registration.

“If you are a content creator on the internet and you have a large following and are gaining or making money from it, you must register, and that’s the provision of the law. And we are all out to enforce the provision of the law with its penalties.”

The CAC boss added that the commission will soon begin compliance checks to ensure these businesses start remitting their taxes to the government.

“This cannot go on. These groups of people are under the mandate to register as a business, considering the amount they make from the content creation. The government is all out to ensure every business in Nigeria, no matter what or how, is registered with the CAC,” he said.

In response, the Opay MD noted that the idea behind Opay operations is to deliver banking services to unbanked persons in the country.

“Opay is ready to partner with CAC to ensure these groups of people have their businesses registered, with their consent though,” he said.

Gotring said the Opay organisation is working to ensure that all companies, no matter how little, as long as you operate as a business, should be registered with the CAC.

This charge came amidst the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) plans to bring media content creators and influencers into the tax system.  

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