The War on Porn Regular Updates about the Assault on The Adult Industry
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ROME — There’s that quiet moment every creator dreads — the one where your phone buzzes with news you didn’t even know you should be worried about yet. In Italy right now, that buzz is coming courtesy of the nation’s tax authority, which has ruled that the country’s 25% “ethical tax” on income from adult content applies not just to major studios or big websites, but also to smaller, independent creators working online.
The so-called “ethical tax” dates back to 2005 and targets any net income earned through the production, distribution, sale, or performance of pornographic material, along with content said to incite violence. When it was introduced, the idea of bedroom lighting setups, DIY ring lights, and subscription fan platforms wasn’t even part of the conversation, so the burden landed almost entirely on traditional adult companies.
A recent ruling from the Agenzia Entrate’s Taxpayers Division Central Directorate for Small and Medium Enterprises now makes it official: creators using premium social media and fan platforms fall under the same tax obligation — even if they operate under Italy’s flat-tax system for small businesses and freelancers.
That system, called the regime forfettario, covers freelancers reporting annual income of €85,000 or less. Which means tens of thousands of Italian creators who thought they were safely tucked into that bracket could suddenly see 25% of their earnings siphoned off if the revenue agency classifies their content as pornographic. A quarter of their income — gone. And you can almost hear the collective pause across the creator community as people do that math in their heads, wondering how something written two decades ago just reached straight into their modern, very personal livelihoods.
