Thinking of starting my own photo business

TristanP · April 28, 2006

I'm thinking about starting a small photography business in DE (sports and portrait stuff), just for some $ on the side. Do I need to form an LLC/S corp/whatever to make this work or can I work out of the house and just get a tax ID #? When buying equipment or services (I need a new PC and would use it a lot for Photoshop, plus the smugmug Pro account), do I need the tax ID already in place, or as long as it's there at tax time with the receipts, I'm good? Any good links I should know about? I'm a complete noob at this. I want to keep it as simple as possible, legal, and cover my a**. Thanks in advance.

Seefutlung · April 28, 2006

TristanP wrote:

I'm thinking about starting a small photography business in DE (sports and portrait stuff), just for some $ on the side. Do I need to form an LLC/S corp/whatever to make this work or can I work out of the house and just get a tax ID #? When buying equipment or services (I need a new PC and would use it a lot for Photoshop, plus the smugmug Pro account), do I need the tax ID already in place, or as long as it's there at tax time with the receipts, I'm good? Any good links I should know about? I'm a complete noob at this. I want to keep it as simple as possible, legal, and cover my a**. Thanks in advance.

Don't know about DE but in CA, one always needs a Business License from the City you're working. In order to get the License you need a Federal tax ID#.

Iron Creek · May 1, 2006

Don't know about your state but Arizona was very easy. Went on line to register new business paid $12.00 waitied about 2 weeks and got the license in the mail. Didn't need anything but my SSN. Since then I've opened a seperate checking account and got a credit card. Been "legal" for over a year. No looking back!

cornerketch · May 2, 2006

LLC/S corp/whatever to make this work or can I work out of the house and just get a tax ID #? wrote:

I live and work in Delaware, you can start as a sole proprietor get a tax id, and get a business license, usually by county ( after all there are only 3 counties in all of Delaware). If you only work in one county, you don't need the others.

Create a business checking account and credit card to seperate all your expenses. If you are using your car, keep a record of each trip , the miles really add up.

the hardest part is keeping good records so you can deduct the appropriate expenses.

These are just ideas for your use.

Shay Stephens · May 2, 2006

Bad idea

TristanP wrote:

I'm thinking about starting a small photography business... just for some $ on the side.

Do it for profit, for real, or don't so it at all. You will likely waste time, money, and effort trying to just make a few quick bucks.

Bodley · May 2, 2006

Shay Stephens wrote:

Do it for profit, for real, or don't so it at all. You will likely waste time, money, and effort trying to just make a few quick bucks.

Ditto

It's been a bigger PITA than I expected. More than just getting a business license (City, County and State $125). You may say "But I live in the County" - If you shoot in the city and offer to sell the shots you need a city BL for each city you shoot in. Some city's have day BL but I've been told they can cost $100/day ( I have not verified this). I was checked at an event by the coord. for a city BL once.

Then comes tracking cost, filing income tax, filing property tax on structures and equipment, filing sales tax (city, county and state), equipment cost (will wear out faster) and insurance....

Now that's a lot of 4x6's to just cover overhead.

Good Luck

TristanP · May 2, 2006

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen. I was thinking this would be mainly for some motorsports weekends. Mileage costs to the tracks alone would easily pay for a Pro smugmug account at tax time. If the startup costs are minimal (I've done some reading and they appear to be here in DE), then it wouldn't hurt to have the paperwork in place. This year is looking like a learning year for my new gear, so I'll have a better idea at the end of the summer what I'm comfortable with.

Jeffro · May 2, 2006

Bodley wrote:

Some city's have day BL but I've been told they can cost $100/day ( I have not verified this). I was checked at an event by the coord. for a city BL once.

If you aren't selling pictures on site, I don't believe you need a city one day BL. The sale will take place on line....in a land far far away! You are just shooting your shots, and handing out cards for people to look at them...hmmm

Thinking of starting my own photo business

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