Ukraine's tax service is looking to collect taxes on Ukrainians' income made on the the subscription-based site OnlyFans, widely known for being an adult content platform, despite pornography being illegal in the country.
After the country's tax service sent out requests to Ukrainian citizens who earn money on the platform, 451 people sent in declarations totaling Hr 326.1 million ($7.76 million) for the period of 2020-2022, Ekonomichna Pravda reported on Jan. 22, citing information requested from the country's tax service.
Ukraine's tax authorities said it had requested data from the U.K.'s tax service on Ukrainian earnings on OnlyFans for the period from 2020-2022, Ekonomichna Pravda reported. OnlyFans is owned by the British company Fenix International Limited.
Ukraine's tax service refused to disclose how many Ukrainian citizens were earning money on OnlyFans, but said it had sent out 4,429 requests to Ukrainians to declare their income from the site.
Only 451 people, or 10% of those contacted, filed declarations. These filings revealed a total tax liability of Hr 63.2 million ($1.5 million) in personal income and military taxes. It is unclear what type of content those who responded to the request for declaration are creating on OnlyFans.
Although OnlyFans is known for adult content, it hosts a variety of materials, including fitness tutorials, cooking lessons, and behind-the-scenes content from artists.
Ukraine's tax service also told Ekonomichna Pravda that it had received a court order to pass along information on Ukrainians earning money on the site to a law enforcement agency, without specifying which one.
The media outlet reported a day earlier that Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security was provided the names of Ukrainians earning income on the platform, and had begun carrying out searches of models and bringing charges against them under Article 301 of the criminal code that deals with the production of pornography.
Kyiv has looked to increasing tax revenues as a means to bolster its wartime budget amid Russia's ongoing war.
But as pornography and adult content, which makes up a lot of the activity on OnlyFans, remains illegal in Ukraine, its users have largely avoided declaring income from the site out of fear of legal repercussions.
Ukraine's strict anti-pornography laws have created complications for creators. The legal framework prohibits the production and distribution of pornography, with broad interpretations leading to prosecutions even for consensual sharing of intimate images.
"OnlyFans already pays taxes in Ukraine. But for 'Ukrainian actors,' even if they want to pay taxes, it is impossible. It would be an admission of guilt," Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said late last year.
OnlyFans as a company pays taxes in Ukraine through the country's taxes on electronic services.
Efforts to change the laws surrounding pornography are underway. A bill to decriminalize pornography was registered in late 2024 for the second time in recent years and gained support from the Verkhovna Rada's specialized law enforcement committee in December.
Zhelezniak, who has supported amending the laws around pornography in Ukraine, said late last year that there are more than 5,000 people in the country currently making money through OnlyFans.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
