Advice for fledgling photographer

silverbullitt

Hi all
I am looking for some advice .
The girlfriend is starting to get very serious about her photography , and covered her first wedding last week , and from the work she did on that gig , its looking likely she will be getting a few more jobs from it.
So as she is always the worrier , she wants to know about any tax implications from doing these jobs , and does she have to be a member of any professional organisations ??

The reason she is worried is because , as she is only starting out , she is charging considerably less than other more established photographers in the area , and she feels that maybe because she is charging less they might feel a little put out by her coming in and undercutting them all. So she wants to have her end of things squared away with any tax implications and professional accreditations she might require.
Any advice you might have to give her would be greatly appreciated .

thanks

Paulw

She needs to make sure she has full insurance (PL, PI, etc).

She also needs to declare any income earned to the revenue. She can do this by filing it as additional income. She may not have to pay any tax on it, all depending on how much she earns and how much her photography costs her.

Anything else, like accreditations, organisations, is totally optional.

Ricky91t

silverbullitt wrote: »

Hi all
I am looking for some advice .
The girlfriend is starting to get very serious about her photography , and covered her first wedding last week , and from the work she did on that gig , its looking likely she will be getting a few more jobs from it.
So as she is always the worrier , she wants to know about any tax implications from doing these jobs , and does she have to be a member of any professional organisations ??

The reason she is worried is because , as she is only starting out , she is charging considerably less than other more established photographers in the area , and she feels that maybe because she is charging less they might feel a little put out by her coming in and undercutting them all. So she wants to have her end of things squared away with any tax implications and professional accreditations she might require.
Any advice you might have to give her would be greatly appreciated .

thanks

Fact of life to be honest..

I agree with Paul,When shooting events and wedding for money Insurance is a must!Even if you're not getting paid it's always very handy to have.

Ettna

She would have to register for VAT when she starts earning over €44,000 a year from photography! (well, you might as well aim high). Great isnt it, you then become a tax collector. Though the other side of it is you can claim the VAT back on your new equipment, and travel expenses, insurance, etc against income tax.

mrboswell

Ettna wrote: »

She would have to register for VAT when she starts earning over €44,000 a year from photography! (well, you might as well aim high). Great isnt it, you then become a tax collector. Though the other side of it is you can claim the VAT back on your new equipment, and travel expenses, insurance, etc against income tax.

Can't you do this as a sole trader anyway?
I heard somewhere that you can offset "set-up" costs over a period of a couple of years....

MartMax

Agreed with what Paul & Ricky said.

Every one has to start somewhere anyway. *Consider* that current economic climate as a *blessing* in a way that most businesses and individuals are trying to cut off costs and looking for more competitive pricing.

Not going to much out of topic, don't be worrying too much about the tax but don't abandon it. Have a good read on these Revenue pages so she can plan photography business and make informed decisions.

VAT registration - http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/registration/index.html
VAT for photography - http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/photography.html

Best of luck to her!

twowheelsonly

Best of luck to her and I hope it works out well for her.

As others have said, Insurance is a must.
IMO she'd also want to be contacting the Tax Office straight away regarding her liabilities - she doesn't want to be getting any nasty surprises in a couple of years time. You don't say whether or not she's currently working elsewhere. If she is then she may indeed be liable for tax, if not then it can very much work in her favour.

BTW, if she does become relatively successful/busy and is paying Tax, PRSI, VAT, insurance etc., then she won't be undercutting the others for much longer!!!! Every little thing has to be factored in - travel, possibly even accomodation, wear and tear of equipment, time, upgrading of equipment (including PC et al) even things like extra batteries,cards, discs etc. It's not long adding up and you want to show a profit as well.
I have a small business on the side - all above board and relatively successful - and no matter how busy it can be hard to turn a profit. (Not Photography BTW)