Cheese Tax

Cheese Tax refers to a popular meme, that became a viral trend on TikTok, revolving around the everyday struggles of dog owners, who must pay the “Cheese Tax” every time, the dairy product is taken out of the fridge.

“Cheese Tax” is, of course, giving a bite of the cheddar to your Chonky companion.

A song was created about the phenomenon in 2023, which became a viral TikTok sound, spurring the creation of countless short videos, revolving around the concept.

Cheese tax

Although the trend became popular on TikTok in 2023, the earliest “Cheese Tax” post, involving a Doge can be traced back to the tweet of @AlanaAstra, shared on May 14th, 2016.

Following this, more and more posts were shared online, depicting dogs getting ready for the “Cheese Tax.” The main sites at the time were Twitter, Imgur and Tumblr. However, the meme began taking off on Twitter in 2022, as more and more dog tweets included the phrase.

The first “Cheese Tax” post was uploaded to TikTok on January 30th, 2023, by @esperborzoi, depicting the frequently-memed long nose dog collecting the “Cheese Tax” from even the mouth of his owner.

The @esperborzoi “Cheese Tax” TikTok was largely successful, amassing a large amount of views and likes. However, the true kickstart for the meme was the creation of the “Cheese Tax” song, by @puppysongs on TikTok.

The song was included in a TikTok of @puppysongs, which was uploaded on February 28th, 2023. It amassed over ten million views in a few days, marking the beginning of the “Cheese Tax” trend.

Within the following months, countless TikToks got on the hype train for the “Cheese Tax” meme and began uploading videos of their Doggos and even Cattos, demanding their due, in the currency of the cheese. These TikToks usually used the original sound of the “Cheese Tax” song.

Since then, the format spread across the web, with TikToks compilations being uploaded to YouTube, while newer posts and content began appearing on Tumblr and Twitter.

• KnowYourMeme – The Cheese Tax