Do I need to register for VAT for my OnlyFans income?

Only if your taxable turnover reaches the £90,000 registration threshold, tested on a rolling 12-month basis or if you expect to cross it in the next 30 days. Most creators are below this, but if you are close to it you should take advice, because how the threshold is measured for platform income is not straightforward.

Do I count the full subscription price or the 80% I receive towards the threshold?

This is genuinely unsettled. There is no primary source that fixes whether the gross price the subscriber paid or the net 80% you receive counts towards the £90,000, and the answer can change whether you need to register. Anyone near the threshold should confirm the position with HMRC or a qualified adviser rather than rely on a general rule.

Is there VAT on the OnlyFans commission?

The VAT treatment of the 20% commission is not settled by any clear primary source, and it depends on the platform rules and the deemed-supply position established in the Fenix case. Do not assume it either way; check it against your own circumstances with an adviser.

OnlyFans and VAT for UK Creators

Q: Why is OnlyFans treated as the supplier?

In Fenix International Ltd v HMRC the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld Article 9a of the VAT Implementing Regulation, so a platform facilitating an electronically supplied service is deemed to act in its own name. OnlyFans, through Fenix International Limited, is therefore treated as supplying the subscriber, and you are treated as supplying the platform.

Written and reviewed by the Adult Creator Accountants editorial team. Last reviewed 29 July 2026.

VAT is where OnlyFans income gets genuinely complicated, and it is the area where creators are most likely to be given confident but incorrect answers, which is why accountants who work with OnlyFans creators treat it as a specialist question. The headline rule is straightforward. The way it applies to a platform such as OnlyFans is not.

You are required to register for VAT once your taxable turnover reaches the registration threshold, which is £90,000 and has applied since 1 April 2024. The threshold is tested on a rolling 12-month basis, and also applies if you expect to cross it within the next 30 days. The point of dispute for creators is what figure counts towards that £90,000, and this page explains why that question does not have a simple answer.

Where the VAT Threshold Sits

The VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover, in force since 1 April 2024. You test it in two ways: on a rolling 12-month basis, looking back over any period of twelve months, and on a forward basis, if you expect your taxable turnover to pass £90,000 in the next 30 days alone, the point at which the rules on when to register require you to act. There is also a deregistration threshold of £88,000, which matters if your turnover later falls.

Who Supplies What Under the OnlyFans Model

OnlyFans is operated by Fenix International Limited, and how the supply chain is treated for VAT was tested in court. In Fenix International Ltd v HMRC, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-695/20, judgment of 28 February 2023) upheld the validity of Article 9a of the VAT Implementing Regulation. The effect of that provision is that a platform facilitating an electronically supplied service is deemed to act in its own name.

In practice this means OnlyFans, through Fenix, is treated as the supplier to the end subscriber, and the creator is treated as making a supply to the platform rather than directly to the subscriber. That deemed-supply position is the settled part. What it means for the threshold is not.

Gross or Net Towards the Threshold

Here is the part that is genuinely unsettled. It is not clearly established whether a creator should count the gross figure, meaning the full price the subscriber paid, or the net figure, meaning the 80% actually received, towards the £90,000 threshold. The court decision above settled who is treated as supplying whom, but it does not, on its own, put the threshold question beyond doubt for every creator's circumstances.

Because the two readings can produce very different answers about whether and when you must register, this is not a question to guess at. A creator anywhere near the threshold should confirm the position with HMRC or a qualified adviser before deciding. We do not state a fixed rule here because there is no primary source that pins one down for every case.

The Commission and VAT

A related and equally unsettled point is the VAT treatment of the 20% commission that OnlyFans keeps. It is tempting to assume the commission simply carries VAT, or that it does not, but the correct treatment turns on the platform rules and the deemed-supply position rather than on a single obvious answer. This is exactly the kind of detail that a general article, or a well-meaning peer, tends to get wrong.

The safe course is to treat both the threshold question and the commission question as matters to be checked against your own figures and the platform's terms, with advice, rather than settled facts.

When to Take Advice Before You Register

If your income is comfortably below £90,000 and shows no sign of approaching it, VAT is not an immediate concern, though it is worth keeping an eye on your rolling 12-month total. As you get closer, the gross-versus-net question starts to matter a great deal, and getting it wrong in either direction carries a cost: register too late and you face penalties, register when you did not need to and you take on obligations early.

This is the point to bring in specialist help. A VAT service built for creators can track your rolling turnover and advise on the threshold question before it becomes urgent. Earnings at this level often coincide with going full time on the platform, so the VAT decision usually arrives alongside questions about company structure.