Ukrainian OnlyFans models have declared 396 million hryvnias in income
This is according to Yevhen Plinsky, an expert on customs and tax matters.
Ukrainian content creators on the OnlyFans platform have paid over 70 million hryvnias in taxes to the state budget over the past few years. The tax authorities received data on their income from the UK, where the service’s parent company is registered.
This concerns over 5,400 Ukrainian citizens who worked on the platform between 2020 and 2022 and used more than 7,000 accounts within the jurisdiction of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The information was provided by Fenix International Ltd.
According to Yevhen Plinskyi, the active phase of tax returns began much later. Between October 2024 and April 2026, the authors submitted around 900 tax returns.
They declared UAH 396.1 million in income. From this amount, UAH 77.3 million in taxes was calculated, including the military levy. In fact, UAH 75.7 million has already been paid into the budget.
At the same time, of the more than 5,000 registered OnlyFans creators in Ukraine, only around 20% have officially declared their income. This means that the tax authorities may have scope for further assessments.
Data from the UK and audits
According to journalists, the regulatory authorities are already using information from the UK to conduct audits and levy taxes on other content creators. In some cases, this has led to court proceedings.
Plinsky cited the case of Maria Borisovna Sukhanova as an example. Recently, the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal in Odessa upheld a decision to impose additional tax liabilities of 1.7 million hryvnia on her for income earned on OnlyFans amounting to nearly 200,000 dollars.
As of early April 2026, according to OpenDataBot, there have been at least 27 cases in which the plaintiffs were able to fully or partially overturn the State Tax Service’s sanctions.
In total, there have been 94 such court cases. Almost a third ended in victory for the content creators. This year alone, the courts have already handed down 13 rulings in their favour, five of which were in February.
In the majority of cases, namely 92%, the courts ruled in favour of the claimants due to breaches by the tax authorities. The most common issue was the sending of documents to outdated addresses. Even when letters were returned, audits were still carried out, and the courts ruled such actions unlawful, along with the fines imposed.
The tax authorities also frequently used letters from British authorities regarding payments from Fenix International Ltd, the owner of OnlyFans. At the same time, the courts emphasise that such documents may serve as grounds for an audit, but not as proof of income.
Without bank statements, contracts or other primary documents, additional tax assessments are considered unfounded.
How income from OnlyFans is taxed
Ivan Mudrachenko, a lawyer and managing partner at the law firm “Mudri Partners”, explained that Ukrainians’ income from OnlyFans for creating content is taxed at the individual’s place of tax residence.
According to him, Fenix International Ltd is a platform that makes payments to content creators on the basis of a service contract. Such services are provided by non-residents and are not subject to taxation in the UK, as they do not create a permanent establishment, and the activity is not considered to be carried out on UK territory.
Therefore, income received from the platform should be taxed in Ukraine.
OnlyFans models pay personal income tax and military tax. For Ukrainians without an individual entrepreneur (FOP) status, the tax is 18% of income, and the military tax is 5%.
If users register as a third-group sole trader under the simplified tax system, the tax burden will be lower.
Models who are not tax residents may not have to pay taxes in Ukraine. This applies to those who live abroad for 183 days or more and can provide documentary evidence of this.
Penalties and risks
Mudrachenko noted that fines are imposed for non-payment of taxes. These can range from 25% to 50% of the unpaid tax amount.
A daily penalty may also apply for each day of delay. According to the lawyer, this amounts to 100–120% of the NBU’s annual discount rate.
Other sanctions include the freezing of accounts, seizure of property and restrictions on travelling abroad. Criminal liability under Article 212 of the Criminal Code applies if the amount of tax evasion is 4.542 million UAH or more.
Accounts or bank cards may be frozen as a result of financial monitoring of suspicious transactions.
Ukrainians must declare income from OnlyFans even if they delete their account, as this is a foreign source of income. Ukrainian tax legislation requires the payment of income tax and military levy regardless of access to statements or reports.
Ukrainian models on OnlyFans generally earn around $10,000 a month, but net income is reduced due to taxes and expenses.
As reported by ThePublic, the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal upheld a decision to impose additional taxes and fines totalling over 1.7 million hryvnias on a resident of the Odesa region who received income from the OnlyFans platform but failed to declare it.
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