Criminalisation of pornography in Ukraine: the state budget receives just 5% of taxes from OnlyFans

This is evidenced by the calculations of the Ukrainian Business Online Publication «Ekonomichna Pravda» (EP), made on the basis of the response of the State Tax Service.

According to the State Tax Service, Ukrainians who received income from OnlyFans between 2020 and 2023 declared 648.4 million UAH, of which 396.2 million UAH was for the period from 2020 to 2022, and 252.2 million UAH for 2023. Of these amounts, 76.3 million UAH in taxes were paid for 2020–2022, and 48.1 million UAH for 2023.

At the same time, the total amount of income received by Ukrainian citizens from the OnlyFans platform is much higher than the officially declared amounts. Indeed, EP previously discovered that in 2020–2022, Ukrainians earned $121 million on the platform, and in 2023 alone – $131.75 million. That is, the total amount of such income over four years amounted to over $252 million.

According to EP’s calculations, if all Ukrainian content creators on OnlyFans had paid taxes (personal income tax and military (levy)) on their earnings from the platform, the total tax payments for 2023 alone would have amounted to approximately 953 million UAH. In reality, however, the budget received almost 20 times less – 48.1 million UAH.

Criminal liability for tax offences in Ukraine

Most citizens do not declare the income they receive from OnlyFans because they fear criminal prosecution for the production and distribution of pornography.

Moreover, the declaration of income from the production of porn can entail liability not only under Article 301 of the Criminal Code (provides for punishment in the form of fines and imprisonment (for a term of up to seven years), but also under Article 209 of the Criminal Code – the legalisation of proceeds of crime (punishable by imprisonment for up to 12 years).

Information about content creators on OnlyFans is available to law enforcement agencies. In particular, in September 2024, the Economic Security Bureau obtained the relevant data following a court order.

Subsequently, as EP learned from sources within law enforcement, sets of this data were sold to police officers for $400. After receiving the data, the officers carried out searches of OnlyFans models and OnlyFans agencies, demanding bribes and kickbacks from them in exchange for not opening criminal cases.

EP described one such case of bribery involving an OnlyFans model in the autumn of 2025. At that time, it was recorded that a police officer from Ivano-Frankivsk region demanded $1,000 from the model. Following the public outcry, the officer was dismissed.

The day before, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General carried out a large-scale special operation, during which they uncovered a corruption scheme involving the National Police leadership in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions providing protection for ‘porn offices’.

According to the investigation, the suspects organised a scheme to obtain unlawful benefits in exchange for ‘protecting’ the activities of individuals who created and distributed explicit content on online platforms. In exchange for a monetary reward, the officials promised not to take any retaliatory measures and not to bring the persons involved to justice.

According to the investigation, for covering up the activities of one “porn office”, the regional police leadership received $20,000 a month, with a further $5,000 going to an intermediary – the driver of one of the deputy ministers of the interior.

Digital platforms

A draft law on the taxation of income received from digital platforms (OnlyFans also falls under the definition of such a platform) is currently under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. The adoption of the document is part of Ukraine’s obligations within the framework of cooperation with the IMF and the EU and a prerequisite for receiving funding.

The bill provides for the automatic exchange of information on income from digital platforms and the disclosure of data on citizens who receive such income. In return, the bill introduces a simplified tax regime and a reduced tax rate – 10% of income instead of 23%.

Currently, the State Tax Service (STS) (Державна Податкова Служба України - ДПС) receives information on Ukrainians’ income on OnlyFans only in response to requests to the UK tax authorities (where Fenix International Ltd, the company that owns OnlyFans, is registered).

In response to a request from EP, the State Tax Service reported that in January 2026 it received data from the UK tax authorities on Ukrainians’ income on OnlyFans for 2024. However, they refused to provide details of the amount of such income or the number of people receiving it, stating that ‘the processing of the relevant information is ongoing’ – and has been for five months now.

If the law on the taxation of income from digital platforms is adopted, the state will receive data from Ukrainian creators on OnlyFans not in response to requests, but automatically and on a regular basis, which could lead to increased pressure from law enforcement agencies on content creators on the platform.

On 28 May 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine plans to consider a bill proposing to abolish criminal liability for the creation and distribution of pornography involving adults. Its adoption could eliminate the risk of criminal prosecution for taxpayers and open up opportunities for the legal operation of pornographic content creators in Ukraine.

The bill was registered back in late 2024, but until now there has been insufficient political support for its adoption and inclusion on the parliamentary agenda.

Text by Yaroslav Vinokurov (Ярослав Вінокуров)

Article published on 28 May 2026 on the portal epravda.com.ua

Comment from the CO «Legalife-Ukraine» regarding the failed vote in the Ukrainian Parliament on 28 May 2026 on the bill to decriminalise the creation and distribution of pornography involving adults.

Natalia Isaeva (Наталя Ісаєва), Director of the CO «Legalife-Ukraine»:

«In Ukraine, the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘sex workers’ are still ignored at the state level. For many years, we have heard from politicians that reforms are ‘not timely’. But the recent failure of Bill No. 12191 has shown that the authorities have time for populism, but no political will to protect the rights of their own citizens. As I have already pointed out in a comment for DW (Deutsche Welle edition), the only ones to benefit from criminalisation are the law enforcement agencies—those who are ‘protecting’ this practice. That is why the law enforcement agencies themselves are blocking these changes.

People cannot wait years underground until the deputies are "ready". If a country at war cannot ensure full economic stability, it is obliged to guarantee the constitutional right to work and free choice. It is necessary to clearly distinguish between voluntary sex work and sexual exploitation. People who work to feed their children are not criminals».