South African Government Announces New Tax Charge for OnlyFans Users

South Africa has announced that users of popular website, OnlyFans, will be charged standard value added tax (VAT) rates. This comes after OnlyFans, a subscription content service, grew exponentially during 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The online platform is known as a free market for content creators who can earn revenue in dollars from monthly subscribers and daily viewers. However, content creators will now have to pay 15 percent of all their earnings to the South African Revenue Services (SARS).

Read: The South African Government May Decriminalize Sex Work

The news seems unbelievable yet SARS spokesperson, Anton Fisher, confirmed that tax had been imposed on the website. According to IOL, Fisher explained that the law was imposed inline with South Africa's VAT Act: "The VAT is imposed under the Act which requires businesses that carry on an enterprise in South Africa to register for VAT and charge the VAT on sales made to its customers."

According to Stuff, OnlyFans users increased as unemployment rates dropped in South Africa during the pandemic. Many South Africans have reported receiving sizeable revenue, some up to a whopping 8000 USD a month. The site allows users such as musicians, artists, fitness trainers to share exclusive curated content for their target audience. However, the website reportedly has mainly adult entertainment of sex videos and nude pictures.

While SARS is set to collect revenue from OnlyFans, sex work itself remains criminal in South Africa. Understandably, South Africans have slammed the imminent tax by pointing to the absence of policies around the regulation of sex work which is currently illegal.