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OnlyFans tax return: what you have to fill in

Your first tax return as an OnlyFans creator looks worse than it is. Most of it is a handful of forms, a list of income and a list of expenses. This article walks through what you have to fill in, which expenses you can deduct and where creators typically slip up. It is orientation for Germany, not tax advice: talk to a tax adviser before you file.

Reading time about 8 minutes · Written by the Finest Fame team

When do you have to file a tax return as a creator?

If you earn money on OnlyFans, you file. Every year, for the previous calendar year. That applies whether you do this full-time or next to a job, and it applies regardless of the amount.

The reason is simple. Income from OnlyFans is business income. Anyone with business income has to declare it, and the tax office cannot know your profit unless you tell them. An employee with only a salary can sometimes skip the return. A creator cannot.

The deadline for people who file themselves is usually the end of July of the following year. If a tax adviser files for you, there is more time. Check the current deadlines, they have shifted in recent years.

Which forms do you need for your OnlyFans tax return?

Everything runs through ELSTER, the online portal of the German tax authorities. You need an account there, which takes a couple of weeks to activate because part of the login arrives by post. Do this early.

Main form (Mantelbogen, ESt 1 A)

The cover form with your personal data, bank details, religion for church tax and a few general questions. Nothing specific to OnlyFans here, but it has to be complete.

Anlage G (business income)

This is where your OnlyFans profit goes. Anlage G is the attachment for income from a trade. You enter the profit figure, not your revenue. The profit comes out of the next form.

Anlage EÜR (income minus expenses)

The EÜR is your profit calculation: all income from the year on one side, all business expenses on the other, the difference is your profit. Small businesses without a formal balance sheet use this simplified method. For most creators it is the main piece of work, because this is where you actually list what came in and what went out.

VAT return (Umsatzsteuererklärung)

Separate from income tax. Even if you use the small business scheme and charge no VAT, a VAT return can still be required, and if you have cross-border obligations it definitely is. More on that below.

The tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung)

Not part of the yearly return, but it comes first. After you register the business, you fill in this questionnaire once, online. It gives you your business tax number and sets the basic parameters. If you have not done this yet, start with registering a business for OnlyFans.

What goes where in the return

Income from OnlyFans

The amount you enter is what you actually received from the platform in the calendar year. Use the payout statements from your OnlyFans account, not your bank balance and not your gross sales before the 20 % platform fee. Whether you record the gross amount and deduct the fee as an expense, or record the net amount directly, is something your adviser decides. Both approaches exist. Pick one and stay consistent.

Income from other platforms, tips through third-party services, paid collaborations: all of it goes in. The tax office is not interested in where it came from, only in the total.

Business expenses

Everything you spent to run the business, listed with receipts. The categories are covered in the next section. The rule of thumb: if you would not have bought it without the business, it is probably deductible. If you would have bought it anyway, it is probably private.

Trade tax

If your profit stays below the allowance of roughly 24,500 euros, trade tax is not an issue and there is nothing to calculate. Above that, a separate trade tax return (Gewerbesteuererklärung) is due. Most of what you pay in trade tax is then credited against your income tax, so the net effect is smaller than the number suggests.

Income tax

You do not calculate income tax yourself. The tax office does that from your profit in Anlage G plus any other income. What you should do is estimate it in advance so the payment does not surprise you. How much that typically is, with examples, is in paying tax on OnlyFans income.

Business expenses you can deduct as a creator

This is where you reduce your tax bill legally. Keep every receipt, digital is fine.

Equipment and technology

Camera, phone used mainly for content, ring light, tripod, microphone, laptop. Items above a certain price are written off over several years instead of in one go. Cheaper items are deducted immediately.

Software and tools

Editing apps, scheduling tools, cloud storage, a paid link-in-bio service, subscriptions to design tools. All deductible as long as they serve the business.

Platform fees

The 20 % OnlyFans keeps, plus payout fees, plus fees of other platforms you use. If you record gross income, these are your largest single expense.

Advertising and marketing

Paid promotion, shoutouts you paid for, costs for a website, a domain, professional photos for your profile. If you work with an agency, its fee belongs here too. See OnlyFans marketing for what usually makes sense to spend on.

Tax adviser and bookkeeping

The adviser's fee, bookkeeping software, bank account fees for a business account. Deductible in full.

Home office

If you shoot and work from a room in your flat, a share of rent and utilities may count. The rules here are strict and depend on how the room is used. This is one to discuss with the adviser rather than guess.

Reverse charge and VAT

The reverse charge procedure

OnlyFans is operated by Fenix International Ltd in London. For VAT purposes you are not selling to your fans, you are supplying a service to a foreign company. In cross-border business between companies, the reverse charge mechanism (Reverse-Charge-Verfahren) often applies: the recipient of the service accounts for the VAT, not the provider.

For your revenue this usually means no German VAT is charged on what you receive from the platform. But the same mechanism can work the other way round for the platform fee, which is a service the UK company provides to you. In that case you may have to declare German VAT on the fee yourself. This is the part where creators most often get it wrong, and it is exactly what a VAT return is for. Have your adviser set it up once, then it is routine.

Small business scheme (Kleinunternehmerregelung)

If your revenue stays below a limit of roughly 25,000 euros a year, you can opt for the small business scheme. You then charge no VAT and cannot reclaim VAT on your purchases. It reduces paperwork. It does not remove the cross-border obligations described above, which is a common misunderstanding. Whether the scheme is a good idea for you depends on your expenses and your growth plans.

5 typical mistakes and what they lead to

No business registration

Filing a return with business income but no registered business raises questions. It is fixable, but do it in the right order.

Reverse charge handled wrong or not at all

Leads to VAT being owed retroactively, often for several years, plus interest. The single most expensive mistake in this list.

No bookkeeping

Without records you cannot prove your expenses. The tax office then only sees your income. You pay tax on money you never kept.

Income from several platforms not fully declared

Platforms report to tax authorities under EU rules. Partial declarations get noticed. Declare everything, every platform, every year.

Starting too late

Two years of returns at once, plus late fees, plus the tax itself, is how creators get into trouble. One year at a time is manageable.

Do it yourself or hire a tax adviser?

If your income is small, your expenses are simple and you are comfortable with forms, you can file yourself through ELSTER. The EÜR and Anlage G are not rocket science.

Once VAT and reverse charge come into play, or once your income reaches a few thousand euros a month, an adviser pays for themselves. They know the deductions, they handle the cross-border part correctly, and their fee is itself deductible. A middle way is one consultation to set up the structure, then filing yourself with that structure in place.

Common questions

Do I need to mention OnlyFans by name in the tax return?

No. The forms ask for the type of business and the figures, not the platform. A neutral description such as online content creation is fine. Your adviser, if you have one, should know the details though, because it affects the VAT treatment.

What if I have a regular job on top?

Then your return contains both: the salary in the employment attachment and the OnlyFans profit in Anlage G. The two are added together and taxed as one income. Expect to pay something extra, because the OnlyFans profit lands on top of your salary at your higher rate.

Can I file a return for past years I missed?

Yes, and you should. Filing late voluntarily is treated far more mildly than being caught. Gather the payout statements for the missing years, list the expenses you can still prove, and file. A tax adviser is strongly recommended for catch-up filings.

Which documents do I need to keep?

Payout statements from the platform, bank statements of the account the money arrives on, receipts for every expense, and the VAT invoices if you are registered for VAT. Keep them for ten years, digitally is fine.

Is the 20 % OnlyFans fee deductible?

Yes. It is a business expense like any other. Depending on how your adviser books your income, it is either deducted explicitly or already reflected in the net figure you record. Either way it reduces your taxable profit.

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