Business Liscense

Racerx7734

Did you get a business liscense to sell photos on smugmug.........I mean, do I have to?

anderiv

Racerx7734 wrote:

Did you get a business liscense to sell photos on smugmug.........I mean, do I have to?

No, if I understand it correctly, you only need a Pro level account if you want to be able to set your own prices for prints. If you don't need to do that, a standard or power user account should work just fine.

-Erik
P.S. Mods - This should probably be moved to the Smugmug Support forum.

Miguel Delinquento

Depends on frequency and amount of sales
I'm not a lawyer nor am I an accountant, so consider the source.
Whether you need a business license depends on the frequency of sales you obtain. Incidental sales probably don't require it, though technically you are liable for sales tax or use tax for just about every qualifying transaction in most states (in my state, food doesn't quality for sales tax, though candy does).

If you find yourself conducting several transactions per week or a smaller number with a high dollar amount, then you ought to get your formal business act together: licenses, taxes, bookkeeping, depreciation. If that happens the good news is that you are probably making money and you can write off your photo equipment.

M

Scott_Quier

Miguel Delinquento wrote:

I'm not a lawyer nor am I an accountant, so consider the source.
Whether you need a business license depends on the frequency of sales you obtain. Incidental sales probably don't require it, though technically you are liable for sales tax or use tax for just about every qualifying transaction in most states (in my state, food doesn't quality for sales tax, though candy does).

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer nor an accountant ...

I'm not so sure this is correct:

Taxes on sales are to be collected at the point of the sale. SmugMug is in California. It's SmugMug that is making the sale as your agent. It's incumbent on them to collect any sales taxes required. If SmugMug collects the taxes, it doesn't make any sense at all for you to have to report/pay taxes on those same sales.

Andy answered this question some time ago in these two threads

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=23400
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27119

Miguel Delinquento

Thanks Scott for shedding some sense and light on the transaction issue.

M

Scott_Quier wrote:

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer nor an accountant ...

I'm not so sure this is correct:

Taxes on sales are to be collected at the point of the sale. SmugMug is in California. It's SmugMug that is making the sale as your agent. It's incumbent on them to collect any sales taxes required. If SmugMug collects the taxes, it doesn't make any sense at all for you to have to report/pay taxes on those same sales.

Andy answered this question some time ago in these two threads

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=23400
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27119

anderiv

Racerx7734 wrote:

Did you get a business liscense to sell photos on smugmug.........I mean, do I have to?

Heh - sorry...I read your question *totally* wrong.

ChatKat

California

anderiv wrote:

Heh - sorry...I read your question *totally* wrong.

Well, the tax questions answer for California is this: If I buy prints from Smugmug but deliver them to me and then deliver them to client, I have to charge tax again. Smugmug will charge me tax at 7.25 but I live in a district where it's 8.25 so I have to collect that if I am redelivering. IO get credit for paying to Smugmug but I still have to collect the right amount.

As for a business license - if you are a business, you need one if your jurisdiction requires it and tax advice too. Income tax and sales tax are two different types of tax - If you are a hobby business, you might be missing out on some tax deductions and other benefits of being a business.

Racerx7734

ChatKat wrote:

Well, the tax questions answer for California is this: If I buy prints from Smugmug but deliver them to me and then deliver them to client, I have to charge tax again. Smugmug will charge me tax at 7.25 but I live in a district where it's 8.25 so I have to collect that if I am redelivering. IO get credit for paying to Smugmug but I still have to collect the right amount.

As for a business license - if you are a business, you need one if your jurisdiction requires it and tax advice too. Income tax and sales tax are two different types of tax - If you are a hobby business, you might be missing out on some tax deductions and other benefits of being a business.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

I went ahead and setup all of my tax paperwork with Smugmug, and according the the State of Nevada website, if I make less the $24000 a year and work from my home only, and have no clients at my house, then I dont need a business lisence.

Thank again.

Jamfore

Business
Well there is a lot to learn about business. I have a business license in NC but I also have to pay state and local county taxes on sales. I also pay business property tax on my camera gear so be careful if you are not making a lot of money out there and keep it a hobby.

I started out at a local craft fair and the county approached me and said I had to pay all this stuff because I where I live. The next county over does not require all of these taxes to be paid. My hobby has not provided much income as it was just a hobby, to even be considered a business so I am hoping that SMUGMUG will make all of this mess worth my time.

Check your facts before you sign up for anything. I hate that I got caught making a few little sales.

Angelo

bump