As a photographer to make money on photos and not be afraid of financial monitoring, explained the lawyer

Photo photographer: informant

Ukrainian artists are increasingly earning on foreign photobank bands – Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Getty Images. However, there is a significant Contradictions: The same amount can be taxed as a FOP profit or as a foreign earning of an individual. The difference in fiscal obligations sometimes becomes striking. How is this decisive difference determined? Lawyer Bogdan Yankov explains the proper interpretation of the nature of such revenues and identifies a number of key actions for the correct design.

“In transactions with photobank, your fees are often classified as” royalties “, which causes misunderstanding. However, Ukrainian fiscal law has a fundamentally different approach. Consider how to legally pay taxes from photobanking in 2025, avoiding sanctions and unnecessary costs,” Bogdan said.

Trap of terminology: royalties

“By signing offrates with Shutterstock or Adobe Stock, you really face the concept of” Royalty “. It is a world usual practice. However, for tax purposes in Ukraine, only the Tax Code remains decisive. According to subparagraph 14.1.225, non -electronic use of electronic copies. Buying your image for your own site, only receives a copy for specific use, not exclusive rights to the work, ”Bogdan Yankov comments.

This position is confirmed by the state fiscal body. In individual explanations of the STS, it is clearly qualified from photobank payments as a normal entrepreneurial profit from the provision of services, which allows you to use a simplified tax system.

Option A: Optimal FOP Conditions: Funds come to the FOP business account with a domestic bank. Tax duties:

• Single tax: 5% of the total amount of revenues (for FOP 3 of group without VAT).
• Military collection: 1% of income (compulsory for simplifiers since 2025).
• ESA: 1760 UAH on a monthly basis (21 120 UAH annually). Fixed mandatory payment regardless of the amount of profit.
• General financial load: (income × 6%) + 21 120 UAH annually.

Option B: Cost error Conditions: Funds are stored in foreign accounts (for example, Payoneer) or come to a private card.

Taxes:

• PIT: 18% of the amounts received.
• Military collection: 5% of income (current rate for individuals since 2025).
• General load: 23% of the amount of receipts.

Step -by -step strategy: minimizing payments The execution of the algorithm requires systematicity, but each stage is crucial, the lawyer says.

Step 1. Verification of the status of FOPs and NACEs Check registration correctness as FOP 3 groups with appropriate codes:

• 74.20 “Photographic activity” (basic).
• 59.12 “Installation of film and video materials” (relevant for sale of video content).
• 63.99 “Other information services” (universal additional code).

Step 2. Correct use of accounts Transfer all money from photobank and international platforms (Payoneer, Wise, etc.) exclusively to FOP business account. Avoid transfers to private cards or long -term storage on foreign assets.

Step 3. Timely reporting. Fiscal graph 2025 The most critical stage where mistakes often occur. For FOP 3 groups there are clear deadlines:

• Reporting (EP, OT, ESV): It is served quarterly within 40 days after the quarter is completed.
• Payment of EP and OT: within 10 days after the declaration (maximum up to 50 days after the quarter).
• Payment of the ESA: quarterly by the 20th of the month, which occurs in the reporting period.

Typical miscalculations

Financial discipline as an instrument “The choice between variants is an issue of arithmetic and organization. Photobank receipts are not legally royalties that opens up opportunities for effective tax management,” says Bogdan Yankov.

The lawyer emphasizes that the fiscal changes in 2025 have increased the benefits of FOP status: the difference between taxation options has increased, making erroneous actions even more unprofitable. At the same time, the restoration of mandatory ESA has increased the requirements for the design of the FOP. For authors with minimal or unstable income (up to ~ $ 3,000), FOP maintenance may be ineffective – an individual calculation is required. Strict adherence to the procedures: the use of business accounts, the compliance of the NACEs and the troubled implementation of reporting deadlines remain crucial. For the author with an annual income of $ 10,000 (410,000 UAH), it is a gap between ~ 45.720 UAH of taxes as a FOP and 94.300 UAH as physical persons. The correct approach allows you to save over UAH 48,000 annually.

The gun