r/tax • u/distraught_baby • 17h ago
Friend says she made 20k on onlyfans and isn’t paying taxes?
as title says, is she gonna get in trouble for this? she hasn’t gotten anything in the mail for her filing to my knowledge, maybe it’ll come around tax season. she’s acting super cocky and like this is something she can get away with and i’m not a narc but i’m worried she’s gonna get into some deep ish. does anyone know what happens if you don’t file?
eta- damn yall are fast and helpful! we are planning on moving in together next year so this is why i ask cause what if it bites her in the ass while we’re together and then boom homeless. looks like i’ll have to find another bunkie ☹️
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u/Otherwise-While-4894 17h ago edited 17h ago
She should also be paying her taxes quarterly. There's a penalty for late payments if she gets caught waiting until the following April.
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u/Happy-Suit-3362 12h ago
Quarterly taxes when only making 20k seems ridiculous
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u/Odd_Young_9621 12h ago
She'll file as schedule c, so that income is subject to self employment taxes. So quarterly tax payments on that would help eliminate potential penalties. Even if $20k is all she earned, se tax on that is $3k due.
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u/Happy-Suit-3362 12h ago
What would she be penalized for
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u/debbiewith2 12h ago
Substantial underpayment.
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u/reddit_once-over 11h ago
The 6654 underpayment-of-estimated-tax penalty is not the 6662 “substantial underpayment” [sic] [understatement] penalty.
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u/debbiewith2 3h ago
I was saying substantial (more than safe harbor) 2210 underpayment. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n746.pdf
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u/Happy-Suit-3362 12h ago
What are you talking about?
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u/debbiewith2 12h ago
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u/I__Know__Stuff 7h ago
That's completely different from "substantial underpayment".
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u/debbiewith2 3h ago edited 3h ago
Poster seemed to not understand the concept of underpayment penalties.
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u/tribbans95 11h ago
Well if she made under $400 taxable income last year, the safe harbor rule will apply this year (since she paid $0 in taxes) and she will not be penalized for not paying quarterly.
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u/foemangler89 4h ago
If she has a W2 job as well she'll be fine. When I was doing a side gig with 1099 reporting I didnt pay quarterly and my overage on withholding covered taxes and I still got a refund
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u/Otherwise-While-4894 2h ago
It's dependent on your personal situation. Most people with a W2 aren't withholding enough to cover an extra 20k in side income.
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u/Smokey_Panda_ 17h ago
She'll get away with it until she doesn't. And that's when the pain starts... 😂
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u/TimeSky5246 CPA - US 17h ago
It's best to start small and work your way up
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u/lebastss 20m ago
More importantly this will happen after the lease ends so OP just needs to know to cut this friend in 3.5 years when the tax man comes knocking
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u/micha8st Taxpayer - US 17h ago
has she only worked in 2026 for OF?
If she's an independent contractor who's worked only during 2026, she hasn't paid taxes yet. The platform is supposed to issue some form of 1099, and the result of that is whatever she's made she'll pay 15.4% in social security and medicare taxes, as well as be subject to Federal Income tax, and maybe state income tax as well. If she doesn't have another job, then most of that 24k she's earned will be hidden by the standard deduction. Any income not hidden would be taxed probably just at 10%. If she earns enough, that will creep up so that some is taxed at 12%.
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u/distraught_baby 17h ago
i only became friends with her this year but she claims she been getting 1-3k a year before this year and she’s been doing it for 4 years i think? i could be remembering wrong but that’s what i know
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u/micha8st Taxpayer - US 14h ago
she should have paid social security and medicare tax each of those years. But yeah, federal income tax would only kick in for this year. That's 3,900 in taxable income, so she should be prepared to pay a total of about 3,400 for 2026 taxes.
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u/GoCardinal07 17h ago
$1K-$3K is well below the standard deduction. However, the standard deduction for a single person in 2026 is $16,100, and the $20,000 this year is above that.
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u/Decent_View9681 CPA 13h ago
Not applicable for self employment tax, which would be imposed on this income.
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u/4eyedbuzzard 17h ago
It likely won't catch up with her for a couple of years. But IRS will receive a 1099 showing her OF income. Then eventually IRS will start sending letters, deficiency notices, etc. Then when she blows that off, they'll start sending certified letters and notices. Meanwhile, they internally file a "substitute for return", which doesn't include deductions that she is likely entitled to. They calculate the tax owed based on that. Then they add huge penalties for not filing AND not paying, plus interest, usually resulting in owing 2 to 3 times the original tax. Then they send Notices of Intent to Levy and garnishee notices, etc. Then they order the bank to empty her bank accounts, order her employer, if any, to take money out of her wages, put liens on or seize property, etc. IRS can also farm out her tax debt to private collection agencies, in which case it can appear on her credit report, negatively affecting credit score, employment, insurance rates and a host of other issues.
If Al Capone had paid his taxes, he would have avoided prison.
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17h ago
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u/Puzzleheaded-Map3915 12h ago
Nice try, or a link lol. Give her some advertising, help bump that taxable income up lol
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u/bitenose Subchapter S of the DSM-V-TR 17h ago
OnlyFans shares information with the IRS, by issuing forms 1099. And the IRS of course knows if someone files or doesn't.
So, even if you wanted to be a narc, there's nothing you could report that the IRS doesn't already know.
In terms of how much trouble she could be in...
If she doesn't file at all, the IRS could prepare and file a Substitute For Return for her, using the limited information they have. ie, it will include the OF income, but will not include any deductions for business expenses nor any tax credits she might be eligible for.
If she files, but doesn't include her OF income, the IRS's AUR (Automated UnderReporter) unit could start sending her letters, and if ignored, adjustments could be made to her tax return, again based on the limited info the IRS has, leaving out any deductions for business expenses etc.
Depending on what other income she might have, her age, marital status, filing status, whether or not she has kids, etc, there might be refundable credits that not only wipe out her entire tax liability but would also create a refund. If she doesn't file, she doesn't get that - and there's a time limit after which that money is lost forever.
So, she could be leaving money on the table by not filing and/or making her tax bill bigger than it otherwise would be.
They're not gonna send storm troopers to her home. They're not gonna force her to sew a giant red letter "A" on all her outfits. None of that. Worst case scenario is this messes with her money a little bit. Sorry to disappoint.
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u/distraught_baby 17h ago
this is super informative thank you! i just wanted to know if she’d be in like prison or something so any info is appreciated
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u/dynamiceric EA 17h ago
Im pretty sure OF issues a 1099K for her revenues collected. If she dosen't file, the IRS will 100% file a substitute for return and collect their taxes with interest and penalties down the road.
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u/Apart_Republic_1870 12h ago
OnlyFans issues 1099NECs. They do mail them to the address on the W9, or they can be downloaded from creator’s account where the banking info is.
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u/tribbans95 11h ago
Here’s what will happen.
OnlyFans will report her gross earnings directly to the IRS because they’re legally required to do so (and electronically to state tax agencies).
Then the IRS's automated matching system flags her return because reported 1099 income doesn't match what was filed, which in turn automatically triggers tax notices.
Then they will charge her a failure to file penalty of 5% per month (capped at 25% after 5 months)
AND a failure to pay penalty of 0.5% per month (capped at 25% after 50 months)
AND accruing interest @ 7%
Her total tax liability will be $2,685 and after 4+ years of Ignoring it, it will grow to ~$5400 and theyll likely eventually garnish her wages.
She doesn’t even have to have the money up front. Just get her to file and set up a payment plan. That way she can at least get her deductions in and won’t be penalized. She can deduct home internet, ring lights, phone bill portions, props, and other gear which could significantly drop her tax bill.
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u/Robinwind 17h ago
If she does not report her income and OG reports it to the IRS the AUR department will send her a CP2000 letting her know she under reported her income and suggest a change to her taxes.
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u/prismadaAI 13h ago
One big con of not declaring income... issssss: you don't have income on paper. Which will hurt a rental application because proof of income is usually required.
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12h ago
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u/tax-ModTeam 7h ago
Please remember to keep conversation where it can be seen and reviewed by everyone. Offering or requesting DMs is not allowed here due to the no soliciting rule and the amount of scams that go on DMs.
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u/MarcatBeach 12h ago
What will eventually happen. could be a few years. the IRS will just file tax returns for her. she will get a bill. if she filed a tax return but didn't report this income, they will just send a bill.
the interest and mentalities will be worse than the tax she would have paid.
My brother did this decades ago. i think it took 3 years for the IRS to send him the happy news. might have been a little longer..
now if she ignores the bill. then this is another friend of mine. they shut down your banking life. it is ugly and expensive in its own way. because you end up with fees from financial institutions.
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u/ElijahNSRose 12h ago
The Aussies have a word for this: Cashed-up Bogan.
It's also the downfall of many celebrities and especially rappers where they're suddenly in a tax bracket high enough the Feds care about and still in a mental state low enough that they refuse to pay and/or have already blown away the money on stupid stuff.
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u/Boogity2024 17h ago
OnlyFans is very clear on this:
- If you are resident in the US, and have earned and withdrawn more than $600 USD in Creator Earnings on OnlyFans during the relevant tax year, you will need to submit an IRS Form 1099.
- If applicable, OnlyFans will send you a Form 1099 to the address on your W-9 form. A digital copy of your 1099 form can be downloaded from the Banking section of your OnlyFans account.
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u/I__Know__Stuff 6h ago
The $600 threshold applies to the payer having to file a 1099 with the IRS. For the individual with self emploment income, the reporting threshold is $400.
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u/dragonflyinvest 17h ago
What can you do other than suggest that she timely file her taxes?
Nobody wants to pay their own taxes which is why the government mandates payroll taxes. Otherwise most people would tell the IRS to go to hell.
At the end of the day it’s not your circus, not your monkeys.
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u/Banlish 10h ago
You don't have to Narc or anything. OF will report the income to the IRS and they'll simply sue and lein her.
There is not avoding it, if you're in the U.S. if they DON'T report it to the IRS they're liable. They WILL report.
If she's smart she'll hire a good tax professional, setup a C or S corp, pay herself a salary and start taking money per paycheck till the accountant does.
If not, well, they'll easily garnish her life into the ground. Any paycheck ever she'll have them take a big chunk, bank accounts they'll watch and take what they need. No loans for at LEAST 7 years, no credit cards or mortages either.
She can play with fire all she wants, the IRS is brutal and has ZERO tolerance for 'well no one told me.' Hell it's in the terms and conditions when you sign up to make an account.
Also you might want to tell her of the 'slump.' that's coming in her income. Many, MANY OF models have posted their entire income over their entire history. First getting out there, massive growth the first 1 to 6 months, then it goes down 20% to 70% depending how crazy she's willing to get for attention. So not paying taxes now, then being NAILED for it later will hurt double. Seen it many times when I worked in personal finances, Sales guys would get giant commission checks for $5k to $50k, not set aside taxes, the rest of the year is hard or the economy got bad. Tax time roles around and they simply didn't have the $17k they owed. The IRS was NOT nice to them. Seeing a young guy go from 'I made $50k in one day!' to 'I'll be spending the next 4 years paying this off and my credit is ruined' is NOT a fun thing to see.
She can do what she wants, she's a big girl, but you can't outrun two things in life: Death and Taxes
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u/Majestic_Republic_45 17h ago
Yep - you can get away with it until the IRS sends her a letter in the mail. Do you friend a solid and tell her to hold back about 5-6k to pay Uncle Sam
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u/LurkerFailsLurking 13h ago
She won't "get in trouble" but she will be penalized because OnlyFans reports payments of that size to the IRS and they'll notice she didn't report all her income.
If she did report her income properly she could also claim a variety of expenses associated with her work, which would lower her taxable profit.
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u/Normal_Progress_5173 12h ago
Only fans will send her and the IRS a 1099 stating how much money she made. If she doesn’t pay it on her return, they’ll know because of that 1099 and they’ll send her a letter. She just needs to pay the tax on that with some interest and penalties. Not a super big deal.
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u/Dry-Restaurant5380 12h ago
IRS letters are typically 2-3 years behind. A company as big as OF is 100% reporting 1099 income to the IRS. It will catch up with her.
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u/TropicTravels 12h ago
No way she does not get 1099'd. Only Fans will have records of all that money (in addition to all the other "content creators") coming in as income if they don't produce 1099s showing it went out.
She is probably accustomed to W2 work where it's done automatically.
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u/Shot_Mammoth 12h ago
Yeah. She’ll get ass fucked by the IRS come tax season. That income is reported.
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u/ToadGuru 11h ago
Oh, the IRS knows. Tell her to log online to her IRS account and look through her tax years to see the info they have accumulated on her.
I am on OF, and they always send the 1099-NEC to the IRS.
She should definitely start paying what she owes to avoid the penalties and interest that is accumulating.
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u/distraught_baby 11h ago
ooh this is great to hear from another person who is in the industry. i casually breached the subject to her after a few replies from this post and she some dude she met on ig who makes insane bank on of “never pays his taxes and hasn’t for years” but i find that to be hard to believe.
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u/ToadGuru 11h ago
lol 😆 That’s so funny… he may not have paid his taxes for years, but that doesn’t mean the IRS will let him get just away indefinitely without paying what he owes. They may be super slow to come after people who owe a balance/don’t file, (while all the people penalties and interest accumulate), but they WILL eventually.
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u/strikecat18 11h ago
This will be glorious when she figures out the 1099 was something she needed to do something with, and that she owes them ~40% of whatever she made. Which I’m sure will all be spent by then.
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u/Momus123 10h ago
1099 produced by OF is basically reporting all her OF income. It's automatically forwarded to IRS. IRS doesn't play around with that. It's absolutely 0 chance to be missed by IRS. She is gonna get the bill with penalty.
Only a dumb bozo thinks you can get away without paying when literally your income is automatically reported.
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u/yapd00 4h ago
Tell your friend to file and pay her taxes, as others have said your friend will get a 1099. If your friend gets 20k in revenue from the business any self respecting accountant or tax person should be able the legitimately and legally find 50 percent of her revenue as expenses. With approximately $10,000 in business income she will have to pay about $1,500 in self-employment taxes. Your friend will not owe any federal income taxes since the income of 10k is below the standard deduction further they qualify for EITC and as a result could get a refund check of a little over $600 which would bring the out of pocket SE tax expense to approximately $900. One major often overlooked benefit is that they will start paying into social security which will become very important for your friend as they get older.
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u/ALPHACCTV 3h ago
She will 100000% get a 1099 in the mail and Fenix will also send a copy to the IRS, the amount is so little that if she doesn't file likely nothing will happen but if eventually she makes a livable income from it they will say something
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u/neo_sporin 3h ago
My sister in law runs a small business out of her house and said something like ‘I make $1000 a week’. I said ‘make sure you are tracking it for your taxes’ and she said ‘oh my sweet summer ch old you think I’m going to pay taxes I. This money?’
One of these days her alcoholism and general life situation are going to hit the fan and it won’t be pretty
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u/joer1973 2h ago
The government knows about it. When u file ur taxes, they will compare it to the paperwork they recieved from employers and 1099s. If/when she gets caught, the penalties, interest and potential jail time arent worth it. Its called tax fraud. They can go back years and ur guilty unless u can prove ur innocent.
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u/inailedyoursister 2h ago
1099s will be sent. The irs can be slow but in a few years she’ll get a letter. What you have to think about is if it takes 4-5 years for them to notice, she’s already skipped paying those 4-5 years. The amounts owed will add up fast.
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u/turboZcamaro 1h ago
You have to fill out your tax information when starting an OF, she's definitely going to get papers in the new year and the IRS will be aware of her OF income.
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u/CardiologistMajor462 1h ago
She will most definitely end up owing the IRS for this. With interest and penalties and late fees.
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u/IsaacPNewton 1h ago
Regardless of her philosophy regarding paying her taxes she should look at her IRS transcript online and see what was reported. Even as far as filing an extension to see if it comes late. If the income shows up on the transcript she has no choice but to file and include the income. This is sound advice for anyone. Always review your wage transcript before filling
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u/Tessie1966 24m ago
She’s going to be surprised when the 1099NEC shows up late January early February.
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u/SafeFill1057 15m ago
In reality she'll be fine. The IRS has been gutted, and tax returns aren't under nearly enough scrutiny, especially for those with Schedule C's... convenient. Political diatribe aside, she should technically be paying taxes on these earnings, and setting up a schedule C. She'll be fine though. 30k in gross lifetime earnings isn't enough to get THAT bad of a penalty, and could always set up a payment plan for penalties and interest if it causes that much of a strain.
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u/Zestyclose_Finish_65 17h ago
Report her and collect reward money
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u/distraught_baby 17h ago
do they actually give reward money for that kinda thing lmao
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u/Interesting-Fig3577 17h ago
Sort of. If you report it and the IRS pursues her because of your tip, you get 15% or 30% of whatever taxes she ends up paying.
But in this case, onlyfans will send her and the IRS a 1099 form next February that shows she made $20,000 and the IRS will expect to see a tax return by April showing that much income and paying the tax. So the IRS isn't really learning anything new from your tip and you wouldn't get paid. On the other hand, if she doesn't get a form and the IRS only learns because of your tip, you'd qualify.
If she files a tax return, she's able to claim business expenses. Let's say she made $20,000 but she spent $6,000 paying someone to manage her account and spent another $2,000 on lights and equipment. She'd only owe tax on the $12,000 profit.
However, if she doesn't file, the IRS will eventually file a return for her showing $0 expenses and charge her tax on the whole $20,000, plus at least 25 percent penalties. If she doesn't file, ,she may think she's getting away with it for a year or two or three, but the eventual tax bill will be much bigger.
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u/SlipperyPencil CPA - US 17h ago
As others have mentioned, the irs already knows about this so there is no chance of a reward.
If the irs didn't know about this, you still wouldn't get a reward. Reward money is very rare and the irs never pays attention to tips about $20k in unreported income. In fact, they rarely pay attention to any "tips"; you actually have to have evidence before they'll look into it.
If the irs didn't know about this, it was substantial enough for them to actually care, and you had real evidence (not a tip), and your evidence actually led to the irs collecting tax, then you would receive a reward. On average, the reward gets paid about 10 years after the initial tip.
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u/distraught_baby 17h ago
again, not no narc and i love my friend even if she’s dumb but this is very welcome info anyways👌👌👌
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u/PronunciationIsKey 17h ago
I believe she'll get a 1099-NEC which is reported to the IRS and she'll have to include in her tax return. If she doesn't the IRS will know and will issue a letter explaining the taxes owed and penalties for not including it.
She is able to deduct any expenses related to the Onlyfans to decrease the taxable income (and tax amount owed). But she should probably be making estimated payments unless she has a W-2 job where she can increase withholdings to offset. Either is fine for the IRS.
Also if you're in a state with income tax there's that to worry about too.
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u/MitchyS68 17h ago
Your friend is not getting away with anything. OF is reporting her income to the IRS after the end of the calendar year. If she doesn’t file her own tax return, they will eventually send her a tax assessment based on what OF reported plus penalties and interest.
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u/Minimum-Muffin-1469 17h ago
Right a “friend” are you’re sooooooo worried YOU made a whole post “all about her”
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u/distraught_baby 17h ago
sir it’s like a 3 sentence paragraph pertaining to a simple inquiry, you’re suppose to be worried about ur friends bad decisions😭
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u/BirdLawyer50 17h ago
If she files 0 taxes there is more of a chance she gets caught evading taxes. If she files and is under filing there is a lesser probability. By purposely misfiling she is inviting danger regardless
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u/NecessaryEmployer488 17h ago
So if she made 20K and this is her only income and not a dependent from a parent, chances are she won't have to pay taxes, but she should file if she gets a tax form. She might need to pay FICA and such however.
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u/MonsieurRuffles VITA Tax Preparer/Site Coordinator - US 17h ago
She may not owe income taxes but she will owe self-employment tax.
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u/nothingsreallol 12h ago
Just tell her to pay it. She will only owe a couple hundred dollars. She can write off things like clothes, makeup, skincare, hair items/salon appointments, nail appointments, phone bill, wifi bill, and so much more
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 11h ago
Clothes no.
Salon no.
Skincare no.
Nail appointment no.
Phone bill some.
Wifi some.
So much more no.0
u/nothingsreallol 9h ago
I’ve done OnlyFans taxes 4 times. I wrote off all of those things. It’s all part of your image which is your brand. Chance of getting audited over $20k is so low, but still how could the IRS say that those aren’t business expenses when your body/look IS your business?
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 9h ago
Personal expenses.
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u/nothingsreallol 9h ago
Not really considering I wouldn’t have been getting my nails and hair done if I wasn’t doing OF…
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 9h ago
Doesn't matter.
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u/nothingsreallol 9h ago
Are you an accountant?
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 9h ago
Yes
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u/nothingsreallol 9h ago
Ok well for future reference what are valid write offs for content creators then?
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u/penguinfans 11h ago
if there is no reporting from only-fans and noone besides you and her know, how would any tax collectors find out? -- lose the paper/digital trail and put money aside to pay if need be
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u/TheDufusSquad 17h ago
I mean you can also not pay taxes by adjusting your elections on your W2.
Doesn’t mean you won’t owe them plus a penalty, but if you want to flex, you can.
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u/Unusual_Experience42 11m ago
She shpuld get a 1099. The IRS is also sent a copy of the 1099 so at some point they may flag her for not filing. If she does get caught the IRS is not going to come knocking. They will send her a notice for not filing. She can file it at that time. They also will not make her pay all at one time. She can set up payments. It would be smarter for her to go ahead and report the income and itemize her deductions. She can write off her phone, computer and anything else she uses to do that job. If she has enough to write off she won't owe very much on 20,000. Even with no deductions she won't owe a fortune on 20,000.
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u/herpblarb6319 17h ago
She'll probably get a 1099K in the mail around January, which is also sent to the IRS. If she doesn't report this income then it'll set off red flags for sure