Taxation of Income Earned on the OnlyFans Platform in Ukraine

Recently, there has been growing discussion in Ukraine regarding the fulfillment of tax obligations by Ukrainian residents concerning income earned through the OnlyFans online platform. Lawyers at LIGRO have researched this issue for your convenience.

OnlyFans is an online content monetization platform that allows creators to publish paid content, including videos, photos, and other materials, to which users can gain access through a subscription. This platform, enabling users to earn money by creating and selling content, raises several legal issues for both the state and taxpayers, particularly regarding the correct declaration and payment of taxes.

Additionally, OnlyFans is an international company registered in the United Kingdom (its parent company is Fenix International Limited). As of 2023, OnlyFans has over 170 million registered users, with more than 2 million creators of content.

One of the main challenges is determining the legal status of income earned through OnlyFans and the corresponding responsibility of both individual entrepreneurs (IEs) and individuals working through this platform. According to Ukrainian legislation, income derived from providing services or selling content is subject to taxation either as business income or as income of individuals.

In practice, some users of OnlyFans fail to declare their income or report it incompletely, which violates the provisions of Ukrainian tax law.

On the one hand, Ukrainian legislation stipulates that income derived from online services is subject to taxation in accordance with the requirements of the Tax Code of Ukraine. Therefore, income earned by individuals from the OnlyFans platform may be subject to personal income tax (PIT) at a rate of 18%, as well as a military levy of 1.5%. However, due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework and the specific nature of the platform, legal conflicts may arise regarding the proper application of tax rates and the procedure for declaring such income.

In cases of violations, individuals may be subject to fines, and in the case of intentional tax evasion on a large scale, they may face criminal liability under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides punishment for tax evasion in particularly large amounts.

Another significant issue is the criminal liability for the distribution of pornographic content, which may arise if such activities involve violations of Ukrainian legislation, particularly regarding the circulation of pornography. According to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the distribution of pornographic materials is a crime punishable by fines, restriction of liberty, or imprisonment (Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Since OnlyFans allows the creation and distribution of content that could be classified as pornographic, users involved in selling such content may be at risk of criminal prosecution.

Therefore, the taxation of income from the OnlyFans platform in Ukraine requires improvements to the legal framework, particularly the development of mechanisms for controlling tax payments in the online space and the establishment of clear rules for individuals earning income through such platforms.

The LIGRO team has expertise and provides qualified defense for its clients in the relevant areas of law, offering proper representation of their interests in court when challenging fines and penalties for violations of tax legislation.