Ukraine’s adult content industry made $131 million in a year: Why Kyiv wants to tax it now | Today’s news
Struggling with war for more than four years, Ukraine has one issue turning heads in its domestic politics – whether pornography should be legalized and taxed. Unlike many European countries, the production, distribution and possession of pornographic material is illegal in Ukraine.
But despite their strict rules, the country has been unable to curb the shadowy pornography industry growing within its borders, which some believe thrives with the help of corrupt police officials, the Wall Street Journal said in a report.
Now Ukraine is considering taking advantage of the industry by taxing people involved in the country’s porn industry. However, this can prove to be a double-edged sword for those who comply – they will agree to pay taxes, but at the same time confirm that they have engaged in an activity that is considered illegal by the laws of the land.
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An opposition lawmaker who is trying to legalize the country’s porn industry told the WSJ: “These women either don’t pay taxes and face criminal prosecution for it, or they pay taxes and are accused of violating pornography laws,” adding: “It’s a tragicomic situation.
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker who is also chairman of the finance committee in the Ukrainian parliament, said that if porn is legalized in Ukraine, in addition to helping fight corruption, the move would bring the government an additional $25 million in tax revenue annually.
The country needs the funds because the war with Russia is straining its resources (it reportedly needs $120 billion each year for defense), and this income can be a substantial addition to its war funds.
How Ukrainian stars OnlyFans circumvent the law?
A number of women who have adult content accounts on the video streaming platform OnlyFans operate from abroad or sometimes move out of Ukraine entirely.
The model the WSJ spoke to leaves her home in Ukraine every few weeks to travel to a rented villa on the Mediterranean coast in France or Spain, where she broadcasts solo shows on OnlyFans.
Performing artists like her end up paying taxes to the countries they operate from, draining money that could have gone to the Ukrainian government.
The practice is so common that hundreds of OnlyFans models have left the country to work abroad, with one such model telling the WSJ that the country of Georgia now has a large community of such models earning thousands of dollars every month.
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Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, revealed two years after the Ukrainian war that Ukrainians earned more than $131 million from the platform in 2023 alone, which meant they owed the government millions in taxes.
The Ukrainian porn industry operated in the shadows
According to a WSJ report, Ukraine’s porn industry has been operating in the shadows for years, with parts of the authorities turning a blind eye and sometimes being linked to the country’s biggest porn studios.
The country’s attorney general’s office said police departments in three different regions of the country were receiving more than $20,000 a month in bribes.
