Ukrainians earn millions on OnlyFans – and the state counts losses

18 October 18:12

In 2023, Ukrainians’ revenues from posting content on the OnlyFans platform amounted to $131.75 million, which is $20 million more than in the previous three years combined (2020-2022). The tax service has already started sending “happy letters” to content creators demanding that they declare these funds and pay the appropriate fees.

This is reported by Ekonomichna Pravda with reference to the response of the State Tax Service (STS) to the request of MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak, which was reviewed by journalists, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.

Record earnings and potential budget losses

According to the State Tax Service, in 2023, 7914 Ukrainians received income from activities on OnlyFans, which is more than two thousand more than in the previous period of 2020-2022, when 5435 people earned on the platform. The total amount of revenue in hryvnia equivalent reached UAH 4.89 billion (at the average annual NBU exchange rate).

If all due taxes were paid on this amount, including personal income tax and military duty, the state budget could have received more than UAH 953 million. However, there is a problem with the legal status of this activity.

“President Zelenskyi is against decriminalization [of adult pornography], so models pay bribes to law enforcement,” Zheleznyak said.

The State Tax Service also reported that the amount of tax debt of Ukrainians for income received from OnlyFans in 2020-2022 is UAH 380 million.

The tax authorities are collecting money for a criminal offense

The paradox of this situation is that OnlyFans is used mainly to host and monetize pornographic content, the production and distribution of which is a criminal offense in Ukraine. According to Article 301 of the Criminal Code, liability for such activities can reach up to 7 years in prison.

Nevertheless, fiscal authorities continue to collect taxes from the creators of pornographic content for the income they receive. The OnlyFans platform itself is also a taxpayer in Ukraine (it pays VAT on content purchased by Ukrainian consumers). This indicates a systemic legal conflict: the state recognizes income, but does not legalize the source of its receipt.

Amid these contradictions, the Ukrainian tax authorities have applied to the UK tax authority (where OnlyFans is registered) to obtain data on the earnings of Ukrainians as early as 2024. In addition, a petition was registered on the website of the President’s Office demanding the abolition of criminal liability for the production of adult porn. In response to the petition, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally transferred the responsibility for decriminalization to the Verkhovna Rada.

Анна Ткаченко
Editor

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