How Media Buyers Can Legalize Their Income: Working Abroad

We believe that every arbitrator has, at least once, wondered how to legalize their income so that one fine day they don’t receive that infamous “letter of joy” or some other “unpleasant” correspondence.

But there’s another aspect of this work that raises just as many questions—how to legalize income from abroad without running into double taxation from different countries.

Well, let’s not delay any further. Let’s talk about the pleasant (or not so pleasant) stuff—taxes and other matters.

Freelancers and Taxes: Registering as an individual entrepreneur

The thing is, people sometimes view online work as fundamentally different from any other profession. However, being a blogger, media buyer, or other digital specialist is just like working in any other profession, being a sole proprietor, and so on.

This is precisely why arbitrage traders, bloggers, and other digital professionals often face the risk of criminal liability due to a lack of official status. Under Ukrainian criminal law, such activities may be classified as unregistered business operations.

To avoid this problem, most people use an individual entrepreneur registration. And in fact, this is the most effective option in today’s reality. 

In which cases do you need to register as an individual entrepreneur? 

• When you earn income from ad integrations, affiliate programs, collaborations, etc.
• If you collaborate with brands or agencies under a contract
• Monetize content
• Sell digital products or online courses through your blog

There are 4 groups of an individual entrepreneur. Let’s start by saying that Group 3 is the best fit for a media buyer. It provides a simplified tax system and offers the most advantages for running a medium-sized business. 

With Group 3 of an individual entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to:

• Hire an unlimited number of employees;
• Receive cash or non-cash payments in foreign currency and hryvnia;
• Work with both Ukrainian residents and foreign individuals or companies, as well as with any sole proprietorships, legal entities under the general taxation system, and municipal enterprises; 
• Receive a high annual revenue limit—1,167 minimum wages (as of 2025, this is approximately 9,336,000 UAH);
• Obtain a VAT payer certificate. 

There are cases where Group 2 of an individual entrepreneur is sufficient:

• You operate primarily in the Ukrainian market, in the Ukrainian language.
• Your audience is primarily in Ukraine.
• You do not receive payment in foreign currency.

However, if you do work with the international market and your business appears, so to speak, more serious, then this group of sole proprietorships will not suit your activities. Group 2 may be considered by beginners who are just starting out and do not have significant income in foreign currency.

Also, pay attention to the NACE.

Which NACE should a media buyer choose?

We’ve covered the sole proprietorship, but next it’s very important to choose the right NACE. Since a media buyer’s work doesn’t fall under a specific code, there’s a combination that will suit your business.

For example:

73.11 — Advertising agencies

Suitable for those who earn money from ad integrations, sponsored posts, and creating advertising content.

62.09 — Other activities in the field of information technology and computer systems

For those who also run a website, set up ads, etc.

Since media buyers mostly work in the advertising sector, these codes are best suited for such activities. If you also blog on the side, you can choose other codes that include the distribution of informational content, the sale of informational products, etc.

What to do if you exceed your income limit?

If you are a Group 3 sole proprietor and you happen to have exceeded your limit, here’s what to do:

• First, the single tax rate of 15% is applied to the excess amount.
• Next, you need to switch to paying other taxes and fees established by the Tax Code of Ukraine.

Be mindful of whether you are staying within the limit, and if you exceed it, take the necessary steps. If an individual entrepreneur exceeds the limit and does nothing about it, they risk being disqualified from the simplified tax system.

How to legalize work abroad?

First, we covered the topic of taxation in general, since without this, it’s hard to call the work legal. Regarding work abroad: Essentially, this also involves taxes and sole proprietorships. But the thing is, specialists often face the problem of double taxation. When you are taxed both in the country where you are a citizen and in the one where you are working.

For example, if you are from Ukraine, you should make sure that the country you have chosen to work in has a double taxation avoidance agreement with Ukraine. This is a common practice among many countries.

Double taxation agreements are necessary to ensure that the same income is not taxed twice. 

What do these agreements regulate?

• Which country has the right to collect tax;
• How to account for tax paid abroad;
• What to do if residency criteria overlap.

If you want to avoid any unnecessary questions altogether, there are a couple more things to keep in mind. It’s best to always keep all contracts, invoices, correspondence, bank statements, payment system records, and so on. The tax authorities are concerned with the fact of income itself. Make sure you have enough, so to speak, evidence to prove it.

Regarding agreements: If there is a double taxation avoidance agreement between countries, the tax authority of one country may request confirmation of tax payment in the other country. 

Additionally, don’t forget to be meticulous when filing your tax return. People often neglect this. They don’t fully understand the meaning of the agreement and its terms, enter incorrect figures in their returns, and then receive unpleasant news from the tax authorities.

So we advise you to keep all documents in one place, regularly update your tax information, and, before filing your return, it’s best to read over everything you’ve written a couple more times.

In conclusion

Whether to pay taxes or not is up to each individual. It’s clear that if you sort out this issue and organize your work properly from a tax perspective, you can sleep soundly at night without having nightmares about unwanted guests or anything like that.