Main points
- In Ukraine, OnlyFans models won 27 court cases, canceling millions in fines from the State Tax Service.
- Courts have often sided with plaintiffs over violations by the IRS, such as using outdated addresses for notifications.
OnlyFans models won 27 lawsuits against the tax office / AFP
In Ukraine, the number of court decisions in favor of OnlyFans content creators who are challenging fines and additional tax assessments is increasing. Models have managed to win a third of the courts against the tax authorities.
What caused the OnlyFans models and the tax office to sue?
At least 27 cases have been recorded so far in which plaintiffs were able to fully or partially cancel sanctions from the State Tax Service, writes Opendatabot.
There were 94 such lawsuits in total, and almost a third ended in victory for content creators. This year alone, the courts have already ruled in their favor 13 times, including a record five in February:
- In most cases (92%) the courts sided with the plaintiffs due to violations by the tax authority.
- The most common problem was sending documents to outdated addresses. Although the letters were returned, checks were still carried out, which was illegal, along with the fines that were levied.
The tax authorities also often used letters from British authorities regarding payments from Fenix International Ltd (the owner of OnlyFans). However, the courts emphasize that such documents can only be a basis for an audit, but not proof of income. Without bank statements, contracts, or other primary documents, additional charges are considered unfounded.
Where were the most courts?
The largest number of won cases was recorded in the Odessa region – eight. In the Dnipropetrovsk region – five. At the same time, in some regions, in particular the Zhytomyr and Rivne regions, despite the open proceedings, there are no positive decisions yet.
The following fine amounts are also fixed:
- The largest canceled fine – over 3 million hryvnias – was recorded in Kyiv. The court sided with the plaintiff after her bank statements did not confirm the additional amounts.
- In Cherkasy region, over 1.3 million hryvnias in fines were canceled due to the lack of primary documents.
- In Odessa – over 500 thousand hryvnias due to an error with the address.
An interesting case occurred in Ivano-Frankivsk region: the plaintiff contacted the British tax office and received confirmation that no data about her was transferred there. It turned out that the tax service referred to information that actually did not exist, which became the basis for canceling all assessments.
How is income earned from the OnlyFans platform taxed?
The State Tax Service has paid special attention to the popular platform OnlyFans in Ukraine. Fenix International Ltd, which owns it, was forced to share information about the income of Ukrainians. Ivan Mudrachenko, a lawyer and managing partner of the law firm Mudri Partners, spoke about how the work of creators is legally regulated and whether it is legal in a comment to Channel 24 .
In accordance with the Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Elimination of Double Taxation, income of Ukrainians from OnlyFans for creating content is paid at the person's place of residence.
Ivan Mudrachenko
Managing Partner of the law firm “Mudri Partners”
Fenix International Ltd is a platform that makes payments to content creators based on a service provision agreement. These services are provided by non-residents and are not subject to UK tax as they do not create a permanent establishment and activities are not considered to be carried out in the UK. Therefore, income received from the platform should be taxed exclusively in Ukraine.
Therefore, OnlyFans models pay personal income tax and military levy. For Ukrainians without individual entrepreneurs, the tax is 18% of income , and military levy is 5%. But if users register as individual entrepreneurs of the third group under the simplified taxation system, the tax burden will be lower.
Important! Models who are not tax residents, that is, who live 183 days or more abroad and can confirm this with documentation, may not pay taxes in Ukraine.
What is known about paying taxes on income on OnlyFans?
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Ukrainians must declare income from the OnlyFans platform, even if the account is deleted, as this is a foreign source of income. Ukrainian tax law requires paying income tax and military duty, regardless of access to statements or reports.
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As of October 2025, it was known that Ukrainians who received income from OnlyFans in 2020–2022 did not pay taxes in the amount of 384.7 million hryvnias, and tax authorities have already begun processing these incomes.
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In general, Ukrainian models on OnlyFans earn about $10,000 per month, but net income is reduced due to taxes and expenses.