The Cheese Tax

About

The Cheese Tax refers to a TikTok song and TikTok trend in which dog owners give their pets cheese when they take out a bag of shredded cheese (or any kind of cheese) from the fridge. The "tax" is in regard to their dogs begging them for an obligatory bite. The song was created in early 2023 on TikTok. Thereafter, many dog owners recreated the video, resulting in wholesome, animal content. Although it went viral on TikTok, the Cheese Tax concept was prevalent on Twitter prior to 2023.

Origin

Although the Cheese Tax concept was made viral on TikTok in 2023, the Cheese Tax concept had been prevalent online since as early as May 14th, 2016, on Twitter.^[1] Going into 2022, the Cheese Tax in reference to dogs continued on Twitter with more engagement. For instance, on March 5th, 2022, Twitter^[2] user @NeilSausage tweeted a video of their dachshund getting cheese with the caption, "Hoosis cheese tax is right on time 😋," earning over 380 likes in one year (shown below).

Spread

Going into 2023, the Cheese Tax became well-known on TikTok, following a Borzoi video uploaded by TikToker^[3] @esperborzoi on January 30th, 2023, which had text overlay reading, "Everyone wants a borzoi until they get the cheese tax bill…" Over the course of two months, the video received roughly 674,100 plays and 44,800 likes (shown below).

"The Cheese Tax" Song

On February 28th, 2023, TikToker^[4] @puppysongs posted a video that included an original song about the Cheese Tax. Over the course of 10 days, the video received roughly 11.6 million plays and 1.6 million likes (shown below).

"The Cheese Tax" Song Lyrics

The Cheese Tax! The Cheese Tax!
You're gonna pay the Cheese Tax every time you're cookin'
When the cheese comes out, this puppy come lookin'.
The rules are the rules and the facts are the facts.
When the cheese drawer opens, you gotta pay the tax.

The cheese tax! The cheese tax!
Hand it over quick or things might get ugly.
I can get really loud. I'm a really barky puppy [bark].
I'm not just asking 'cause I'm looking for snacks.
This is real important business and you gotta pay the tax.

The Cheese Tax! The Cheese Tax!
The Cheese Tax! [Aw yeah!]

Going into March 2023, multiple dog owners on TikTok used the TikTok^[5] sound from @puppysongs to make Cheese Tax videos with their own puppies or other animals such as cats. For instance, on March 2nd, 2023, TikToker^[6] @lottiethecocker0 posted a video using the song, earning roughly 3.7 million plays and 279,600 likes in eight days (shown below, left). On March 6th, 2023, TikToker^[7] @dittawiggles posted an iteration that received the most engagement across the trend's first 10 days, earning roughly 14.1 million plays and 2.4 million likes in four days (shown below, right).

Over the course of 10 days, @puppysong's Cheese Tax TikTok^[6] sound gained over 13,200 videos using it.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References