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I am Luis Sal, Gianluca Vacchi, Giulia Ottorini ed Eleonora Bertoli the best-known names among those sanctioned by the Financial Police for tax evasion on earnings from their activities on social networks and OnlyFans. They have a total of 50 million followers spread across the various platforms, have their own businesses and collaborate with companies. They ended up in the shirts ofoperation with which the Yellow Flamesthrough a series of checks between 2022 and 2023, brought to light eleven million euros in missing tax declarations by nine content creators active on Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok and OnlyFans.
Gianluca Vacchi disputed 7 million euros
In the lead is “Mr. Enjoy”, as the Bolognese entrepreneur Gianluca Vacchi introduces himself to his 45 million followers. About 7 million euros are disputed against him. Vacchi is 56 years old and is the son of the founder of the multinational packaging company Ima Spa. Lover of the good life, DJ, dancer and influencer, also the protagonist of a docufilm on Amazon Prime, he has launched businesses and brands on several occasions, including the company of “GV Lifestyle” style products. In 2021, farewell to the family business with approximately 700 million euros in liquidation. But this is not the first trouble he ends up in: in 2022 his mega-villa in Sardinia was seized for an alleged building abuse and the legal case between him and some of his collaborators and former servants dates back to that period. During the day, Vacchi responded through a note from his lawyer Gino Bottiglioni.
YouTuber Luis Sal is also in trouble
Trouble also for Luis Sal, the 27-year-old YouTuber who is very popular not only in Bologna, for whom the fine is around two million euros. Sal is best known for his videos on YouTube and for the podcast “Muschio Selvaggio” which until a few months ago he wrote and hosted together with the rapper Fedez. After a well-known argument, there is currently an ongoing lawsuit between the two for the division of the shares of the podcast publishing company in favor of Sal’s company, Luisolve Srl. In the city he had been the testimonial of a promotional campaign for the subscription card to metropolitan museums. The YouTuber responded to the news of the sanctions with a story on Instagram.
The checks on Giulia Ottorini, Eleonora Bertoli and other sex workers
Giulia Ottorini and Eleonora Bertoli, two content creators from Bologna (the former 21 years old, the latter 28), were completely unknown to the tax authorities even though they earn through collaborations with companies and by producing content on the adult platform OnlyFans, from which the most important earnings derive . Ottorini and Bertoli together have around five million followers between TikTok and Instagram. They are especially known among the very young also for their personal affairs: Ottorini, for example, was linked to the rapper Mambolosco. Some time ago she had also shared a video on TikTok in which she showed the expenses of the last four days, which amounted to over 30 thousand euros. In addition to them, the Fiamme Gialle have sanctioned five other “sex workers” active on OnlyFans and Escort Advisor.
How the investigations were carried out
The Guardia di Finanza started the first investigations in 2022, after the Coronavirus pandemic crisis which gave a decisive boost to professions that use social networks and online platforms, such as content creators and influencers who earn thanks to collaborations with companies (so-called “influencer marketing”). By comparing the rates available online – up to 80 thousand euros for sponsored content – with the declared incomes, the investigators found the irregularities.
The Fiamme Gialle: “In general the influencers were collaborative”
“Generally, the influencers proved to be largely collaborative, promptly adhering to the findings made and paying the amounts due to the treasury. Only in a few cases, they reserved the right to carry out further investigations, before continuing the procedure before the financial offices”, they say by the provincial command of the Guardia di Finanza of Bologna. The operation was one of the first produced in the context of the agreement between the GdF and the Revenue Agency to guarantee compliance with tax rules by influencers, bloggers and creators who generate income by publishing content online and to intensify the fight against escapism in the digital creator economy sector.
The applause of Codacons: “Thanks to our complaints”
“The influencer sector is an opaque and not very transparent world which in 2023 generated a turnover of 348 million euros in Italy alone” stated the president of Codacons Carlo Rienzi in a note issued by the association: “It had been Codacons itself presented a series of complaints to the Fiamme Gialle and the Revenue Agency reporting the activity of well-known influencers and famous people” such as Fedez, Chiara Ferragni, Wanda Nara and Asia Valente, “asking to carry out a tax assessment” for “verify the origin of their patrimonial wealth” and “the relevance of such operations, their suitability to constitute income and, therefore, the impact on the declaration obligations”.