Author Topic: Do you file taxes on your income from stock photography? (Honest) (Read 9238 times)

Opalescence · « **Reply #25 on:** February 06, 2020, 10:02 »

Clean records have value.

pancaketom · « **Reply #26 on:** February 06, 2020, 21:51 »

Yes, and deduct some things too. Give it a few more years and I might not have much to report though.

ouatedeP · « **Reply #27 on:** February 07, 2020, 09:37 »

Quote from: georgep7 on February 06, 2020, 03:25

Quote from: K46 on May 22, 2018, 14:28
Thank you all very much. Being a student, I've yet to pay taxes for the first time. I have a large portfolio of pictures that were ready for stock but I think I will wait until I settle down to avoid double taxation.

Most importantly, I hope everyone understands that this question was never meant in an offensive way, as made clear by my age, it's an honest one, I thank you for your replies!

There is a thershold that you have to reach to pay taxes (and a long jourhey to upload, tag and sell I guess...)
As a reference in my country is over 500 Euros. Below that you are covered not to report.
But of course everything e.g. Paypal to local bank transfers are monitored by tax office.

interesting. so if you found a way to have many sources of revenue that only made 499 euros each, you wouldn't have to pay any tax?

Canada i have to declare all revenue from all sources, and tax determined that way

georgep7 · « **Reply #28 on:** February 08, 2020, 05:14 »

Quote from: ouatedeP on February 07, 2020, 09:37

Quote from: georgep7 on February 06, 2020, 03:25
Quote from: K46 on May 22, 2018, 14:28
Thank you all very much. Being a student, I've yet to pay taxes for the first time. I have a large portfolio of pictures that were ready for stock but I think I will wait until I settle down to avoid double taxation.

Most importantly, I hope everyone understands that this question was never meant in an offensive way, as made clear by my age, it's an honest one, I thank you for your replies!

There is a thershold that you have to reach to pay taxes (and a long jourhey to upload, tag and sell I guess...)
As a reference in my country is over 500 Euros. Below that you are covered not to report.
But of course everything e.g. Paypal to local bank transfers are monitored by tax office.

interesting. so if you found a way to have many sources of revenue that only made 499 euros each, you wouldn't have to pay any tax?

Canada i have to declare all revenue from all sources, and tax determined that way

My accountant said that i had to declare myself as freelancer by the first euro. When he realised that overall annual profits were below 500 euros he said that it was ok to file only payed work as an emploee i had done for the year.
For me it was critical as long as if a minimum $50 payout requires to be a freelancer, that means 250euros per month for insurance plus 500 euros tax advance (yup, next year pre-taxxing) plus around 45% taxes plus many other irrelevant expences e.g. for the chamber of commerce (75 per year IIRC from 2015).

Long story short, under 500 euros the tax officer don't mind except of course there are other reasons or indications for tax-avoidance or grey-income.

stockmarketer · « **Reply #29 on:** February 08, 2020, 08:57 »

A few months ago I got sent a bill for $30,000 from the IRS for underreporting income in 2017. It's the whole paypal 1099 K problem where paypal and the agencies double report our income. What I learned is that in they eyes of the IRS, if paypal is going to report the income, then the agencies should NOT. But with no coordination between the agencies and paypal, the job is ours to explain what happened. The IRS initially told me to get a letter from every agency explaining they didnt pay me directly, which of course is impossible. Instead I had to write my own detailed letter of explanation with a TON of backing info. In the end, they cancelled the bill, and I'm left trying to figure out how to explain the situation in my 2019 return. Will probably report all the agency AND paypal 1099s with an entry subtracting out the agency 1099 total, along with a note explaining it is double reporting of the same income. Still not positive it is the right approach. Anyone else deal with this in a different way?

ouatedeP · « **Reply #30 on:** February 08, 2020, 09:33 »

Quote from: georgep7 on February 08, 2020, 05:14

Quote from: ouatedeP on February 07, 2020, 09:37
Quote from: georgep7 on February 06, 2020, 03:25
Quote from: K46 on May 22, 2018, 14:28
Thank you all very much. Being a student, I've yet to pay taxes for the first time. I have a large portfolio of pictures that were ready for stock but I think I will wait until I settle down to avoid double taxation.

Most importantly, I hope everyone understands that this question was never meant in an offensive way, as made clear by my age, it's an honest one, I thank you for your replies!

There is a thershold that you have to reach to pay taxes (and a long jourhey to upload, tag and sell I guess...)
As a reference in my country is over 500 Euros. Below that you are covered not to report.
But of course everything e.g. Paypal to local bank transfers are monitored by tax office.

interesting. so if you found a way to have many sources of revenue that only made 499 euros each, you wouldn't have to pay any tax?

Canada i have to declare all revenue from all sources, and tax determined that way

My accountant said that i had to declare myself as freelancer by the first euro. When he realised that overall annual profits were below 500 euros he said that it was ok to file only payed work as an emploee i had done for the year.
For me it was critical as long as if a minimum $50 payout requires to be a freelancer, that means 250euros per month for insurance plus 500 euros tax advance (yup, next year pre-taxxing) plus around 45% taxes plus many other irrelevant expences e.g. for the chamber of commerce (75 per year IIRC from 2015).

Long story short, under 500 euros the tax officer don't mind except of course there are other reasons or indications for tax-avoidance or grey-income.

interesting. when i started For me it was the opposite, being able to declare a free lancer allowed me to have a small business loss from my gear and use it against my other income.

which actually shows that it is totally different for every one, based on circumstances and tax environment.

qunamax · « **Reply #31 on:** February 08, 2020, 10:55 »

Absolutely not, I'm not into funding corrupt and incompetent government's new Audis. It's not even regulated or enforced by law.
Strongly depends where you live.

trek · « **Reply #32 on:** February 08, 2020, 12:04 »

Quote from: stockmarketer on February 08, 2020, 08:57

A few months ago I got sent a bill for $30,000 from the IRS for underreporting income in 2017. It's the whole paypal 1099 K problem where paypal and the agencies double report our income. What I learned is that in they eyes of the IRS, if paypal is going to report the income, then the agencies should NOT. But with no coordination between the agencies and paypal, the job is ours to explain what happened. The IRS initially told me to get a letter from every agency explaining they didnt pay me directly, which of course is impossible. Instead I had to write my own detailed letter of explanation with a TON of backing info. In the end, they cancelled the bill, and I'm left trying to figure out how to explain the situation in my 2019 return. Will probably report all the agency AND paypal 1099s with an entry subtracting out the agency 1099 total, along with a note explaining it is double reporting of the same income. Still not positive it is the right approach. Anyone else deal with this in a different way?

My understanding is that paypal issues a 1099K for people who have 200 transactions "and" $20,000 in earnings. Keeping the transaction number below 200 should fix the problem.

stockmarketer · « **Reply #33 on:** February 08, 2020, 13:03 »

Yeah, I tried to limit my payment requests and withdrawals in the last few months of the year. Hoping I stayed under the threshold this time.

marthamarks · « **Reply #34 on:** February 08, 2020, 17:59 »

Quote from: trek on February 08, 2020, 12:04

My understanding is that paypal issues a 1099K for people who have 200 transactions "and" $20,000 in earnings. Keeping the transaction number below 200 should fix the problem.

Whew, what a relief! No worries for me in that regard.

cathyslife · « **Reply #35 on:** February 08, 2020, 18:51 »

Quote from: marthamarks on February 08, 2020, 17:59

Quote from: trek on February 08, 2020, 12:04
My understanding is that paypal issues a 1099K for people who have 200 transactions "and" $20,000 in earnings. Keeping the transaction number below 200 should fix the problem.

Whew, what a relief! No worries for me in that regard.

Ditto.

Roger Mitsom · « **Reply #36 on:** June 10, 2020, 20:21 »

Quote from: K46 on May 22, 2018, 14:28

Thank you all very much. Being a student, I've yet to pay taxes for the first time. I have a large portfolio of pictures that were ready for stock but I think I will wait until I settle down to avoid double taxation.

Most importantly, I hope everyone understands that this question was never meant in an offensive way, as made clear by my age, it's an honest one, I thank you for your replies!

Having been freelance for 20 years in the photo industry (though new to stock) let me tell you that you are better served using the system to your advantage by utilizing deductions than by trying to hide income. I didn't pay taxes on income for a few years when I started out and just know it will come back to you with interest. And the government doesn't forget.

Your income with these companies is logged. That's why they have your info.

Also, likely you aren't making a whole lot from stock right now. Working your deductions on gear the right way right now is an advantage. You can deduct a $3500 camera purchase from your overall liability even if you only made $300 that year.

Also, if you are freelance/ independent contractor, finding an accountant who understands the business will save you more money than it costs.

Mrblues101 · « **Reply #37 on:** June 10, 2020, 21:45 »

As non-US resident i totally dont understand how taxes thing works for MS...

I just fill the Tax form that agencies gives to me and they automatically discount the taxes from sale in the USA...

I didn't report my earnings to my local tax center becuse they don't care about internet commercial activity...

Anyway... i always was curious about how it works...

Whiskybottle · « **Reply #38 on:** June 11, 2020, 04:53 »

Would be useful if you guys say which country you're from, as the rules vary.

For me (UK) my accountant did my tax for me, but refused to accept my (significant) expenses. Seems it was too much like hard work, so I ended up with a bill and a right mess to sort out. Following year I did it myself and got a tax refund back into my back within a couple of weeks.

CommuniCat · « **Reply #39 on:** June 11, 2020, 13:32 »

Yes of course. Always declare income. Just remember that every camera, every trip you take with your models, every hotel you stay in while travelling with your models, every prop you buy for stock, including food if you shoot food as stock is then a legitimate expense. Also, times are tough and sometimes we don't make a profit with our work. Sometimes it's more expensive to go to all of these locations with our models than we make. Especially when we get paid $0.10 for a download. Such is life.

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Author Topic: Do you file taxes on your income from stock photography? (Honest) (Read 9238 times)

Opalescence

pancaketom

ouatedeP

georgep7

stockmarketer

ouatedeP

qunamax

trek

stockmarketer

marthamarks

cathyslife

Roger Mitsom

Mrblues101

Whiskybottle

CommuniCat

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