What can OnlyFans models deduct from tax in Germany?

The figures that apply in 2026

Two details that often decide the outcome: the 800 euros are always measured against the net price, even if as a small business you cannot reclaim VAT – so a device costing 952 euros gross is still below the line. And the 50 euros for gifts are an exemption limit: one cent more and the whole gift is no longer deductible.

Why lingerie usually does not pass

The classic. The way many models think: I wear the lingerie in my content, so it is a business expense. The way the tax office thinks: lingerie is ordinary clothing that can be worn privately just the same, and for clothing, anything privately usable is generally not accepted, not even in part. Courts have confirmed this hard line for decades, even for celebrities and their stage wardrobes.

The exception is the genuine prop: a costume or set that is visibly not everyday wear, was bought exclusively for shoots and ideally lives separately from the private wardrobe. The clearer that separation is documented, the better the odds. Even then there is no guarantee.

Nails, hair, cosmetics

Here the line is stricter still. Manicures, pedicures, hairdressing and cosmetic treatments count as personal grooming and therefore as private, because you take the groomed body home after the shoot. That well kept hands matter in your content changes nothing from the tax office's point of view. Anyone who deducts these across the board risks back payments in an audit, plus uncomfortable questions about every other line item.

What is clearly deductible

The good news: the big cost items of this business are undisputed.

• Equipment: camera, the business share of your phone, lighting, tripods, storage
• Sets and props that visibly serve the shoots
• Software and subscriptions for editing, planning and admin
• Commissions, both the platform's and an agency's
• Travel costs to shoots, with receipts and a business reason
• Tax advice itself, since that too is a business expense

A dedicated workspace or a share of the rent can also qualify when a room genuinely serves content production. The requirements for that are their own checkpoints with your tax advisor. Without a separate workroom, the daily flat rate remains: 6 euros for every day you work mainly from home.

The middle ground many people miss

Between clearly business and clearly private sit expenses that can be split cleanly, such as your phone or your home internet. Here the tax office accepts proportional deductions when the split is plausible. The difference to lingerie and cosmetics: for phone and internet the business share can be justified and measured, for your own body it cannot.

What this means for you in practice

Keep every receipt, including ones you are unsure about, and let the professional do the sorting. A receipt that gets rejected costs nothing. A deducted item that collapses in an audit costs back payments, interest and trust. And never measure the value of a purchase by the tax saving: deducting does not mean free, it only means the profit you pay tax on gets smaller.

If you would rather not sort this alone

We work with tax advisors who know this business and draw exactly these lines every day. In a first call we sort out how to set up receipts and structure from the start, so the year end filing is routine instead of a nail biter.

Sources

• Section 4 EStG — deductible business expenses; subsection 5 lists what is not or only partly deductible: gifts, meals, workroom, daily flat rate
• Section 7 EStG — depreciation over the useful life
• Section 6(2) EStG — low-value assets up to 800 euros net
• Federal Ministry of Finance letter of 22 February 2022 — useful life of computer hardware and software
• Federal Ministry of Finance: growth booster — declining-balance depreciation of up to 30 percent for purchases until the end of 2027
• Section 5 BRKG — the 30 cent per kilometre rate that tax law refers to for business trips
• Federal Ministry of Finance: official depreciation tables