Flappy Bird developer Nguyen Ha Dong, who earned around VND 210 billion (USD9.93 million) from the game, may have to pay around VND 10 billion (USD473,148) in income taxes, experts said.

Recently, stories about Flappy Bird, a Vietnamese game that skyrocketed to worldwide popularity, has garnered not only a lot of attention and criticism, but also a lot of money.

According to a statement by a game developer, the Verge, the game generated revenues of around USD50,000 a day.

Reporters at DTiNews have determined that Dong has personally brought in VND210 billion (USD9.93 million) so far.

An anonymous official from the Ministry of Finance told said the General Department of Taxation is looking into whether the game's creator was earned this income as an individual or under an entity in order to determine the amount and means of tax collection.

“Tax agencies and other relevant authorities will not take all required taxes from such information and technology innovation,” he emphasised.

Another anonymous expert of state tax collection management said, “Based on his statements to the press, Flappy Bird creator may have earned around VND210 billion. However, relevant authorities will have to verify this information before taking tax collection measures.”

Generally, Google pays game developers from 0.1 USD to USD7 per click on their advertisements. The developer of Flappy Bird has at least once confirmed that he had earned from USD0.2 to over USD1 per hit.

He went on to say that in the US the game has attracted millions of players who have to pay sales taxes on the download. Yet for customers who have downloaded the game but have not played, the developer could still be responsible for tax arrears in Vietnam, estimated at around VND8 billion (USD378,519).

If the game developer has earned this income under both a legal entity as personal income, along with tax exemptions for family members, the taxes owed in Vietnam may be around VND2 billion (USD94,629), the expert said.

He added that the General Department of Taxation would be responsible for collecting taxes from Dong.

Vi Van Dien, Deputy Director of Thien Minh Law Firm, said that if rumours about Dong’s income are true, he would obviously be subject to personal income tax. However, if he has registered under a legal entity, he would have to pay corporate income tax.