Do I need to register a business to earn money on OnlyFans?
5 min read · Updated on 2026-10-27
Short answer
In most cases you need to register something, but not necessarily a classic trade licence. Working regularly and with the intention of making a profit makes you self-employed for tax purposes — small but regular amounts included. Which form is right depends on the country and on how the activity is classified.
The short answer: in most cases you need to register something, but not necessarily a classic trade licence. Which form is right depends on your country and on how your activity is classified. This is an overview, not advice on your individual case.
Why the question comes up at all
Anyone working regularly with the intention of making a profit counts as self employed for tax purposes. That creates reporting and contribution obligations, whether or not you think of yourself as running a business.
The size of the income matters less than people assume. Small but regular earnings still establish self employment.
The three countries side by side
| Germany | Austria | Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual classification | a trade (Gewerbe) | mostly "new self-employment" | self-employed activity |
| Register with | the trade office, then a tax office questionnaire | the tax office, usually the SVS as well | your canton's compensation office, plus the tax return |
| Fee | a low two-figure amount | free of charge at the tax office | no registration fee |
| VAT | above 25,000 € previous-year or 100,000 € current-year turnover | above 55,000 € turnover a year | from CHF 100,000 turnover |
| Ongoing contributions | health and pension insurance | SVS, provisional at first and reassessed later | AHV/IV/EO via the compensation office |
The row that costs money in hindsight is the second one: in Austria it decides whether a trade registration is needed at all, and that is the most common point where contributions are later demanded retroactively.
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In Austria classification usually turns on whether the work falls under the trade regulations or counts as so called new self employment.
Many creators fall into the second group. In that case no trade registration with the district authority is needed, but a notification to the tax office is, and usually one to the SVS as well. There are situations where the authority takes a different view, particularly where additional services such as advertising or marketing are involved.
This is not a distinction to make on your own. It is the most common point at which contributions get demanded retroactively.
Germany
In Germany classification as a trade is the normal outcome. That means registering with the local trade office, after which the tax office sends a questionnaire for tax registration. Whether a platform also reports your income changes nothing about that – see Does OnlyFans report your income to the tax office?
Depending on turnover, VAT obligations follow, and trade tax applies once trade income exceeds the allowance of 24,500 euros a year; it is largely credited against income tax.
What registration does not mean
It does not mean your name appears in a public register that anyone can search. It does mean the authorities have your address, and in Germany certain legal forms carry publication requirements that are worth knowing about beforehand.
If anonymity matters to you, this belongs in the planning, not in the review afterwards.
Timing
Registration belongs at the start, not the end. Backdated registration is possible but unpleasant, because contributions and tax are then recalculated for the entire period.
A common pattern: nothing happens in year one, letters arrive in year two, and the amounts then relate to money that was spent long ago.
What to prepare
An address that can receive official post. A clear description of what you do, because that description drives the classification. And an estimate of your first year income, because provisional contributions are calculated from it.
Do not set that estimate too high, or you will spend year one paying contributions on turnover that does not exist yet.
What registration costs
The registration itself is cheap. In Germany the trade office charges a fee in the low tens of euros. In Austria notifying the tax office costs nothing.
The real costs come afterwards: ongoing social insurance contributions, possibly chamber levies, and a tax adviser. Those amounts fall due even in a bad month, which is why registering only makes sense once income is genuinely coming in.
The reverse is also true. Delaying while income flows does not make it cheaper. It makes it later, with arrears attached.
If you want it set up properly
Choosing the right structure at the start costs a few hours. Correcting it later costs considerably more. We support creators through exactly this step and work with tax advisers to do it. A first conversation carries no obligation.
Sources
- Section 14 GewO — notifying a trade (Germany)
- Section 138 BAO — duty to notify the tax office (Austria)
- USP.gv.at: registering a trade — the official procedure in Austria
- ELSTER: questionnaire for tax registration
- Section 19 UStG — small business rule — 25,000 and 100,000 euros (Germany)
- Section 11 GewStG — 24,500-euro allowance and Section 35 EStG — credit against income tax (Germany)
- Austrian business service portal: small businesses (German) — 55,000 euros (Austria)
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