Chernihiv court orders OnlyFans blogger to pay over 700,000 hryvnias in taxes and fines

The Chernihiv District Administrative Court issued a ruling that fully satisfies the claims of the tax authorities regarding blogger Valeriia Faraonova. The court denied her request to cancel the tax assessments and fines related to her activities on the OnlyFans platform. The decision in case No. 620/9057/26 was issued on 12 October 2026.

Income from international activities

According to the case materials, the Ukrainian tax service received information about the income of a Ukrainian citizen from the British company Fenix International Ltd. The data was received within the framework of international exchange of tax information in accordance with the current Convention and requests to the competent authorities of the United Kingdom. It was established that during 2023, Valeriia Faraonova earned 94,926 US dollars from creating content for OnlyFans. At the official exchange rate, this amount exceeded 3.8 million hryvnias.

Inspection results and assessments

Since the taxpayer did not file an annual tax declaration on property status and income for 2023 and did not pay the due levies, the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in Chernihiv Oblast conducted a documentary, out-of-plan, non-visit inspection. As a result, four tax notification-decisions (Nos. 12191, 12192, 12193, 12194) were issued on 17 July 2026. They stated the assessment of personal income tax in the amount of 648,993.11 hryvnias and the military levy in the amount of 54,082.76 hryvnias. Penalty sanctions were also applied to the taxpayer for failing to file the declaration and for failing to provide responses to the requests of the controlling authority.

Arguments of the parties in court

The plaintiff insisted that the inspection procedure had been violated, as she had not been properly notified. She also claimed that the information received from the State Tax Service letter is not a "primary document" within the meaning of the Tax Code of Ukraine, and therefore cannot serve as evidence of income receipt.

The court fully rejected these arguments, relying on current legislation, international agreements, and the practice of the Supreme Court. The ruling noted that the official response from the tax authority of the United Kingdom contains the taxpayer's personal data and the amounts of payments from Fenix International Ltd, which unequivocally confirms the fact of receiving foreign income. The court also emphasised that the tax service complied with the inspection procedure by sending documents to the official address and to the taxpayer's Electronic Cabinet. Ignoring postal correspondence does not exempt one from liability.

Outcome of the court decision

The court emphasised that the obligation to declare foreign income lies with the citizen themselves. Since the tax authority proved the fact of receiving funds through official channels, Valeriia Faraonova was obliged to declare them independently and pay 18% personal income tax and 1.5% military levy. The plaintiff provided no evidence or objections.

Thus, the Chernihiv District Administrative Court ruled to deny the satisfaction of the claim by Valeriia Valeriivna Faraonova against the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service in Chernihiv Oblast to recognise the tax notification-decisions as unlawful and to cancel them.