Fanum tax comes from the comedy creator Fanum, who is a member of streamer Kai Cenat's influencer crew AMP. The phrase refers to the way Fanum would jokingly "tax" other members of AMP in 2022 by taking bits of their food when they were eating, according to the digital culture database KnowYourMeme. The website says the meme is popular with both Gen Alpha and Gen Z, but numerous Gen Zers say they were not aware of the meme at all.