Abstract This paper examines how GST shapes India's creator economy where passion meets profession, yet sustainable income remains elusive for most. Through qualitative analysis, it uncovers a paradox: GST legitimizes digital creators while imposing compliance burdens, inverted duty structures, and a threshold effect that discourages growth. Most earn below ₹18, 000 monthly, trapped between algorithmic dependency and tax complexity. It recommends simplified compliance tools, shared accounting, and peer learning to transform tax friction into foundation. For India's demographic dividend to flourish through a creator economy, policy must nurture, not merely regulate, this creative revolution. Keywords: Creator economy, influencers, Goods and Services Tax (GST), GDP, compliance, sustainable growth 1. Introduction Clicks, shoots, reels and likes are revolutionising this contemporary era. Views are turning into value, followers into markets and content into a career. Digital content creators are transforming imagination into income. This phenomenon is widely recognised as the Creator Economy represents a new frontier of economic opportunity that has the potential of significant contribution to employment and the economy. In India, millions of creators have redefined the boundaries between passion and profession. Influencers, content creators, and digital marketers are supposed to register for GST if their annual turnover exceeds the threshold limit of ₹20 lakh (or ₹10 lakh for special category states). GST, while designed to bring economic activity into the formal fold, presents a paradoxical barrier to the sustainable growth of the creator economy. The growth of India's creator economy is hindered by a low monetisation rate, high dependency on unpredictable platform algorithms, low domestic CPM rates creating revenue instability, limiting the sector’s overall impact on GDP. Therefore, with this backdrop, the research paper’s objective is to analyze the role of GST in determining whether this creative revolution can evolve into a structured and sustainable economic force as this sector is expanding. The paper also identifies the challenges hindering the growth of the Creator economy for India’s GDP growth and suggests measures for its sustainable growth. Thus, the GST framework serves as a policy bridge linking the expanding creator economy to formal economic activity and GDP growth, reflecting India’s gradual transformation from an agrarian base to a modern, service-led, digital economy. With a vast and youthful population, India’s demographic dividend can be effectively leveraged through the creator economy, which provides scalable and accessible employment opportunities for a growing workforce. DEFINITIONS According to the BCG Report, the Creator Economy is defined as an “Ecosystem involving creators, platforms, brands, and third-party intermediaries who collaborate and generate revenue through content-driven models such as advertising, sponsorships, subscriptions, commerce, etc. ” Need of the Study The growing significance of the creator economy calls for a deeper understanding of how it fits into the formal economic system. As digital content creation increasingly contributes to employment and the GDP, it also becomes important to examine its integration with existing tax structures. This study is needed in order to provide a clear perspective on the role of GST in shaping the transition of the creator economy into a structured and sustainable sector. Statement of the Problem The creator economy in India is growing very quickly, but it is still part of a system that many people find difficult to understand. Even though GST has helped bring some order and transparency, creators often face problems with registration, tax filing, and following the rules. For many of them, especially small creators, these processes are not very simple. This raises questions about whether GST is really helping the sector grow or making things more complicated. So, it is important to look closely at how GST is affecting creators at different levels. 2. Review of Literature Biju Thattil, M. , & R, R. (2021). Barter, Brands, and The Blind Spot: Taxing India’s Unseen Digital Economy. Indian Journal of Integrated Research in Law: Vol. V (Issue II, pp. 1801–1803) - The study findings revealed that India's tax framework inadequately has addressed the hybrid and non-monetary income of digital creators, leading to valuation, compliance, and enforcement challenges. It recommended tailored guidelines, outreach, and a platform driven measure to bridge the tax gap without stifling digital entrepreneurship. Dhananjay Kumar Singh and Binod Pratap Singh (Vol. S No6 (2024) Volume S Issue 6 June Part 2 -2024 – ‘GST and Digital Economy: Taxation Challenges of E-Commerce and Online Services’ – This paper emphasised that the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India in 2017 marked a major reform in the country’s indirect taxation system. GST has replaced multiple indirect taxes with a unified tax structure which aimed at improving transparency, reducing tax cascading, and widening the tax base. They argued that GST has also brought online services and digital business activities into the formal taxation framework. Verma, Anuja. (2025). Taxation of Influencer Marketing: A Grey Zone in Indian Tax Policy. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research - The study revealed that although existing tax laws in India address influencer income, a lack of clarity in areas such as income classification, barter valuation, and the treatment of freebies creates a grey zone. Recent measures such as Section 194R indicate progress, but compliance remains complex and may lead to double taxation, especially for the small creators. Compared to other countries, India’s absence of clear guidelines results in uncertainty, disputes, and inefficiencies in taxing influencer marketing. Piyush Kumarendra. (2025) A Legal Insight Into Brand Deals And Royalties: Decoding The Taxation Of Social Media Earnings. International Journal For Legal Research And Analysis - The study found that social media earnings, including brand deals and freebies, are taxable as a professional income, under Section 194R and GST improving compliance. However, diverse income streams created reporting challenges, while authentic collaborations enhanced the brand loyalty and poor ones damaged it. Overall, tax frameworks are evolving but still struggle to keep pace with the digital economy. Smith, C. (2025). The taxation of 'Influencers' in South Africa and in an international context. University of Cape Town, Faculty of Commerce, Department of Finance and Tax. – This study is based on a South African context, uses secondary data and the study found that influencers are taxed under existing laws rather than special rules, with treatment depending on their income type and work status. It also highlighted the cross-border challenges like double taxation, proper classification of income and need of clear tax guidance. 3. Research Gap Previous literature is comprehensive and detailed. These literatures have analysed and depicted the complete picture of the GST framework. It provides the specific GST liabilities and compliance procedures. However the micro and macro-economic impact of this GST framework on the Creator Economy is limited. There is a restricted scope of interconnected systemic barriers to the sustainable growth of the creator economy. This paper aims to fill the gap by adopting qualitative assessment in terms of structural, behavioural and economical impact of the GST regime on the creator economy’s overall contribution to India’s GDP. 4. Objectives To understand the concept of Creator Economy To examine the role of Creator Economy on India’s GDP growth To analyse the impact of GST on the Creator Economy To identify the challenges hindering the growth of the Creator Economy for India’s GDP growth. To suggest measures for better tax compliances and sustainable growth of the Creator Economy. 5. Research Methodology The study is based on a qualitative review using secondary data from sources like websites, online portals, media platforms, journals, and articles. It also makes use of policy reports, industry data, and some research studies to understand the topic better. Rather than only looking at numbers, the study focuses on common ideas and patterns seen across these sources. This makes it easier to understand the real impact of GST on the creator economy. Overall, the method is descriptive and tries to bring together different views in a simple way. 6. Discussion and Results The creator economy was at its infancy in 2016-2017 which was just a hobbyist space and then the Covid-19 pandemic opened the doors of creator economy as a professional industry. But today, the Creator Economy has completely revolutionised the economic anatomy. Where creative activities were once suppressed, they are now gaining momentum and transforming into income. Boston Consulting Group's 2025 report "From Content to Commerce: Mapping India's Creator Economy" stated that India has approximately 2. 5 million active digital creators with more than thousand followers, out of which 50% are nano and micro influencers. The creator economy has highly impacted the market growth. 30% of consumer purchasing decisions are directly influenced by digital creators. This influence projects to a translation into massive financial figures in the coming years. It is expected to influence over 1 trillion consumer spending by 2030, with direct ecosystem revenues accelerating from 20 - 25 billion in 2024 to 100 - 125 billion by 2030 (BCG analysis, 2025). In 2024, YouTube's ecosystem single-handedly contributed over 16, 000 crore to India's GDP and supported more than 9. 3 lakh jobs. Since consumer spending, ecosystem revenues and employment generation are the key components of GDP
Jain et al. (Fri,) studied this question.