Sales Summary

Bodley · April 25, 2005

I have reviewed the sales detail and it gives me the number of photos in each sale, print cost, my pricing, and est. profits. This page totals the estimated profits but not the rest of the info. Is there a page with the details, for customers and separate listing for my purchases, sorted by month and totaled (total sales, total cost, total profit) in a more printer friendly format. I'm needing this info for tax purposes.

Could details of each order be auto-emailed when an order is placed?

Thanks,
Greg

mercphoto · April 25, 2005

Bodley wrote:

I'm needing this info for tax purposes.

I'm confused. For tax purposes I would think you only need total profit. What the customer pays, what the costs are, etc. are not taxable items on your behalf. The only thing taxable is the check Smugmug sends you. This should make tax accounting very simple for you.

Bodley · April 25, 2005

mercphoto wrote:

I'm confused. For tax purposes I would think you only need total profit. What the customer pays, what the costs are, etc. are not taxable items on your behalf. The only thing taxable is the check Smugmug sends you. This should make tax accounting very simple for you.

My interpretation of the new Alabama Tax code is the the seller is responsible for sales tax on Internet sales if a Nexus exist within the State. One of the many definitions of a Nexus is as follows:

REMOTE ENTITY NEXUS - The out-of-state business and the in-state business pay for each other's services in whole or in part contingent upon the volume or value of sales,

Since Smugmug doesn't collect (I don't blame them) it is left to me. I can't afford (i.e. would lose my day job) to be in some type of controversy relating to non-payment of sales tax.

Bodley · April 26, 2005

I'm guessing I need to forward this question to Smugmug Help.

Does anyone else pay sales tax on sales through Smugmug?

mercphoto · April 26, 2005

Bodley wrote:

Does anyone else pay sales tax on sales through Smugmug?

No, but then again, I'm not entirely should whether I should or not. Sales tax on Internet is a thorny issue that has no clear answers, IMO.

K.Van · April 28, 2005

CA sales tax

Bodley wrote:

I'm guessing I need to forward this question to Smugmug Help.

Does anyone else pay sales tax on sales through Smugmug?

My understanding is that the party who collects the tax (i.e. Smugmug) is responsible for the reporting and payment to the city(s), county(s), state(s). This (in my opinion) does not mean that you do not have to do the quarterly (in CA) sales tax reporting. For my company I file showing my gross sales and state that sales tax was collected by Smugmug on the portion sold through Smugmug. This covers me with the State and keeps me in good graces.

Nikolai · April 28, 2005

Greg,

Bodley wrote:

Is there a page with the details, for customers and separate listing for my purchases, sorted by month and totaled (total sales, total cost, total profit) in a more printer friendly format. I'm needing this info for tax purposes.

While there is no such page at SM site (at least to the best of my knowledge), Star*Explorer (Pro edition) has the ability to deliver this information into Excel and/or Access files, and from there it's up to you how you wanna use it.

So far the pro photogs who used this S*E feature liked it a lot..
You already have trial version, give it a try..
(And, as a sponsor, you'd have a nice deal on Pro version!)

HTH

Bodley · April 28, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

While there is no such page at SM site (at least to the best of my knowledge), Star*Explorer (Pro edition) has the ability to deliver this information into Excel and/or Access files, and from there it's up to you how you wanna use it.

So far the pro photogs who used this S*E feature liked it a lot..
You already have trial version, give it a try..
(And, as a sponsor, you'd have a nice deal on Pro version!)

HTH

Tried it and appears to be just what I'm looking for if I can export to excel

However, I can't save - says I must have a Pro License.

Greg

mercphoto · April 28, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

While there is no such page at SM site (at least to the best of my knowledge), Star*Explorer (Pro edition) has the ability to deliver this information into Excel and/or Access files, and from there it's up to you how you wanna use it.

One feature I would like, and I don't know if S*E does this or not, is the ability to get sales information by gallery, by sub-category, or by category.

Nikolai · April 28, 2005

It sure does:-)

mercphoto wrote:

One feature I would like, and I don't know if S*E does this or not, is the ability to get sales information by gallery, by sub-category, or by category.

Once you get it locally you can group it the way you want.
Here is an (advanced) example of what you can do with S*E:
http://www.starexplorer.com/SE_Pivoting.htm

HTH

Nikolai · April 29, 2005

Greg,

Bodley wrote:

Tried it and appears to be just what I'm looking for if I can export to excel However, I can't save - says I must have a Pro License.

Greg

Well, it's for Pros - hence the requirement..
But since you are valued S*E sponsor, it wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to get an S*E Pro license, would it:-)?

Cheers

Bodley · April 29, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

Well, it's for Pros - hence the requirement..
But since you are valued S*E sponsor, it wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to get an S*E Pro license, would it:-)?

Cheers

Payment has been sent

T4Tots · April 29, 2005

Bodley wrote:

I'm guessing I need to forward this question to Smugmug Help.

Does anyone else pay sales tax on sales through Smugmug?

I am in AL too and I have to keep track of my sales by the month and pay the sales tax accordingly...I don't do TOO much business yet on smugmug to have trouble figuring what I owe a month. My customers are in AL and so am I.

Looks like I am going to be checking out all the star explorer features today !! Thanks Nikolai.

flyingpylon · April 29, 2005

Since Smugmug handles the transaction, why would you have to pay sales tax? Seems like you should only have to pay income tax on the amount that Smugmug sends you.

mercphoto · April 29, 2005

flyingpylon wrote:

Since Smugmug handles the transaction, why would you have to pay sales tax? Seems like you should only have to pay income tax on the amount that Smugmug sends you.

Agreed in principle, but I'm not sure the state cares. If sales tax is owed, then I think technically it must be collected from the customer, then paid to the state. Sounds as if the person isn't doing the collecting part, and only doing the paying part.

Tina, why are you paying sales tax? And are you collecting that from the customer, or paying out of your own pocket?

T4Tots · April 29, 2005

mercphoto wrote:

Agreed in principle, but I'm not sure the state cares. If sales tax is owed, then I think technically it must be collected from the customer, then paid to the state. Sounds as if the person isn't doing the collecting part, and only doing the paying part.

Tina, why are you paying sales tax? And are you collecting that from the customer, or paying out of your own pocket?

I collect it from the customer! I bump my pro pricing to include sales tax on the prints they buy.

mercphoto · April 29, 2005

T4Tots wrote:

I collect it from the customer! I bump my pro pricing to include sales tax on the prints they buy.

You might want to check your tax laws. It might be unlawful to integrate the sales tax into the advertised price. Gasoline is one of the few items I know of where it is legal (required, actually) to integrate the sales taxes into the advertised price. For example, if I see a price advertised for a television, that price never includes the sales tax.

I could easily be wrong about this, but it is my understanding. Tax laws can be amazingly complex. Even asking the taxing agency won't always generate accurate and understandable answers (lovely how unaccountable government is, isn't it?). This is one reason why I'm a big supporter of Boortz's Fair Tax plan (though most of what he advocates is lunacy, he has his sane moments) or similar tax plans, and why I even like Value Added Taxes. Simple, hard to cheat on, easy to implement.

T4Tots · April 29, 2005

mercphoto wrote:

You might want to check your tax laws. It might be unlawful to integrate the sales tax into the advertised price. Gasoline is one of the few items I know of where it is legal (required, actually) to integrate the sales taxes into the advertised price. For example, if I see a price advertised for a television, that price never includes the sales tax.

I could easily be wrong about this, but it is my understanding. Tax laws can be amazingly complex. Even asking the taxing agency won't always generate accurate and understandable answers (lovely how unaccountable government is, isn't it?). This is one reason why I'm a big supporter of Boortz's Fair Tax plan (though most of what he advocates is lunacy, he has his sane moments) or similar tax plans, and why I even like Value Added Taxes. Simple, hard to cheat on, easy to implement.

Well, I need to pay the tax and I don't know what prints are purchased until they are purchased...so after they pay for the prints on smugmug it's kind of tough to call the person up and say now I need a check for sales tax on the items you just bought??? It would be nice if smugmug was set up to add AL sales tax to their shopping cart...then I would just use that to pay the taxes.

mercphoto · April 29, 2005

T4Tots wrote:

Well, I need to pay the tax and I don't know what prints are purchased until they are purchased...

Understood. Sales tax and the Internet is a royal mess that government refuses to deal with, in my opinion. I currently don't charge, collect, or pay Texas state sales tax on anything I sell through Smugmug. Do we collect for Texas, because that is where I am? Do we collect for California, because that is where Smugmug is? Do we collect for the state the buyer actually resides in?

Nikolai · April 29, 2005

Got it!

Bodley wrote:

Payment has been sent

I will send the license 2nite:-)

Bodley · April 29, 2005

mercphoto wrote:

You might want to check your tax laws. It might be unlawful to integrate the sales tax into the advertised price. Gasoline is one of the few items I know of where it is legal (required, actually) to integrate the sales taxes into the advertised price. For example, if I see a price advertised for a television, that price never includes the sales tax.

I have a note on my page which states sales tax included. In Alabama we also have a Law which controls the inclusion of sales tax. But in my "Totally Un-Tax-Educated Mind" I believe what I'm doing is allowed mainly because I am stating the tax is included.
Greg

DTMPhotos · May 10, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

Once you get it locally you can group it the way you want.
Here is an (advanced) example of what you can do with S*E:
http://www.starexplorer.com/SE_Pivoting.htm

HTH

Nik - Ya owe me man!

As one of the original requester/sponsors of the Star*Explorer sales reports, I have to say it has become an invaluable tool in tracking sales across galleries, print types, AND to help me to track profits across galleries (since the Smugmug check is just a roll-up of all profit for the month). I also can track client purchases so I can give discounts (for those with total purchases over a certain amount). The Smugmug sales info is just fine for a couple of sales a month but with over 150 items sold per month, Star*Explorer is absolutely invaluable to me.

On the tax topic...Since I live in CA, the fact that SM takes CA sales tax out, I just treat the profits from SM as pure income from a tax pespective...

Derek
DTM Photos

aa4ga · May 12, 2005

Well, I was curious about how to handle sales tax when I recently signed up, and lucked out that EZPrints is in Georgia, as are all my customers...EZP charges and (presumably) remits sales tax. Should I be audited, I think I could make an argument to the GA Revenue Dept. that I'm materially in compliance.

But Alabama is an odd state wrt sales tax anyway - there are *many* taxing jurisdictions. I'm not familiar with the AL law, but something to consider is whether you are selling a product or a service. In some states, services are not subject to sales/use tax, and the transfer of tangible personal property incidental to that sale is not taxable to the customer, but is still taxable to the seller. There is usually a threshold in the neighborhood of 10 - 15% to determine if the TPP is incidental.

For example, if you are selling photography services (as opposed to photgraphs) and you sell prints for $3.00, and these prints cost you $.30, in some states the $3.00 sale may not be subject to sales and use tax. The photographer, however would be required to pay tax on the $.30...this would usually be done by filing a use tax return - depending on volume, it could possibly be an annual return, and in some states it is incorporated with the income tax return. Again, this stuff varies widely by state, and I don't think it applies in very many states, but it's worth looking into.

The unusual aspect of the photographer/smugmug/EZPrint relationship is that it appears that smugmug is the entity actually selling the prints, and that they are paying the photographer a commission (when looking at the actual payments mechanism and customer service procedures). However, it appears that EZP is collecting and remitting based on their location and not smugmug's...or the photographer's.

IMO, the "correct" way for this to be set up would be for EZP to sell to smugmug, who sells to the photographer, who sells to his customers. Sales tax exemption certificates (for manufacturing) would be issued so that EZP and smugmug do not collect taxes. It would be up to the photographer to collect and remit the taxes as needed by his local regulations and his particular nexus situation. The collection process would have to be included as a set-up option through smugmug.

Nexus is a funny thing these days. Traditionally, it has required a physical connection, however the internet, TV, phone sales, etc. are causing the states to look at nexus differently. In some states, an "economic nexus" is considered to be in effect even when there is no physical connection...and I believe this has been upheld by the courts in some cases.

I spent 15 years as a state tax auditor until I resigned last May. I don't miss it at all!

Lee

Bodley · May 12, 2005

aa4ga wrote:

Well, I'm not familiar with the AL law, but something to consider is whether you are selling a product or a service. Lee

In my case I'm taking photo's and speculating on sales so in essence I'm creating a product and offering to sale and the sale would be subject to sales tax. Not really any different that a jeweler creating a ring then offering to sell.

If I were hiring out under contract, I believe the case would be different. One thought - my local business license was a professional services license.

What is your thought on my reasoning?

Greg

aa4ga · May 13, 2005

Bodley wrote:

In my case I'm taking photo's and speculating on sales so in essence I'm creating a product and offering to sale and the sale would be subject to sales tax. Not really any different that a jeweler creating a ring then offering to sell.

If I were hiring out under contract, I believe the case would be different. One thought - my local business license was a professional services license.

What is your thought on my reasoning?

I could see it argued either way....you're not producing a tangible product such as a ring. Again, I'm not familiar enough with AL to know whether that matters or not. I doubt that hiring yourself out for a particular contract vs. speculative work makes a difference.

If you're talking about a significant amount of income, you may want to consider consulting with a local CPA...or possibly even a tax attorney due to the additional complexity of adding smugmug and EZP into the mix. I think a strong argument could be made that you are not selling your photos, that smugmug is.

At my level of sales (couple hundred bucks a month), if I were you, I'd just let my conscience be my guide...it's not worth the expense of hiring an expert.

PS: I just did a quick Google on Alabama's "Remote Entity Nexus" that you mentioned. That does not apply to you, as you are not related to smugmug. The purpose of that law is to tax corporations who move certain activities to related companies that have no physical nexus with the state in order to avoid paying state taxes...I think Dell was doing something like this, with a related mail-order business. Usually this is an income tax issue, but it looks like AL is going after sales tax. This is like the "economic nexus" I mentioned in my previous post.

Bodley · May 13, 2005

aa4ga wrote:

If you're talking about a significant amount of income, you may want to consider consulting with a local CPA.

I'm not talking about much income from this venture. Hoping to cover expenses this year and maybe make a few dollars next year.

With my day job, I cannot afford to be involved in any type of scandal such as not paying sales taxes. Therefore I'm trying to go the extra mile to stay clean.

aa4ga wrote:

PS: I just did a quick Google on Alabama's "Remote Entity Nexus" that you mentioned. That does not apply to you, as you are not related to smugmug. The purpose of that law is to tax corporations who move certain activities to related companies that have no physical nexus with the state in order to avoid paying state taxes...I think Dell was doing something like this, with a related mail-order business. Usually this is an income tax issue, but it looks like AL is going after sales tax. This is like the "economic nexus" I mentioned in my previous post.

Thanks for the research. I'll check this out.

May just go to the source and ask for a determination.
Greg

Sales Summary

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