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Tax Exemption
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Just a general question out of pure interest
I’ve read the revenue website on this but as with everything on there I find it a little grey.
I have a normal day job which is obviously taxable. If I was to sell some photos lets say through the internet as a sideline can I apply for exemption on this income or would the photography have to be my only income source to do this??
Would I also be right in saying that the pictures must be artistic ‘ and cant be commercial stuff or wedding etc to qualify for exemption??
Thanks
I have been over this many times through our own association with Revenue. Photography is not tax exempt. As you are with a full time job it becomes part of yopur income and if a profit is shown then the profit is added to your income and you get taxed more ………….. (it can put you into another higher band if you earn enough from photography).
On the other hand if you make a loss at photography then that loss can be put against the tax you paid on your day jub and get a refund.
There are exemptions for artists, writers, etc. but I hear the Revenue do not accept photographers as artists and if they do you will have to supply ample proof. I honestly dont know of any who are exempt.
It is possible to get tax exemption for photography but you must be an artist. There are some but not that many and they would be full time artists.
Of, I think, 105 or so new tax exempt people last year only one was a photographer and I can’t recall his name at the moment.
In fairness to the Revenue the criteria are broadly similar to painters/sculptors etc. . If you fit those I would imagine you have a good chance.
T.
Gerry,
I’m in the north so am not familiar with how it works in the south.
But will the revenue accept you as a legitimate business if you are making year on year loss and making no clear effort to improve your business profitability?
A hobby that you make a little money from gets quite complicated here in the north because personal hobby costs are not classed as business expenditure. That means things like lenses, petrol, computers, printers that you use as part of your amateur hobby cannot be included. However, if you can assign a proportion of their use as genuine business use linked to a particular sale then you can offset these against your income.
As a common example, this problem might be relevant to landscape photographers who go out and take photographs for their own enjoyment but also occassionally sell some prints. Can they really claim the petrol and equipment they buy as a genuine business expenditure? Perhaps they can as long as they can prove that a print they sell is linked to a particular trip in the car or a particular lens used.
Andy, I was in that position from 1987 to 1992 and thats how it worked back then but I did register for VAT in 1987 so maybe that made the difference. I enjoyed all the capital allowances at the time even for my car. I doubt if it changed since then.
If you are selling something and charging for the service then you are in business and must abide by the tax laws of the state and I assume thats whither they are in your favour (as in mycast in those years) or against you and you need to pay tax, etc on the money you receive. Being so you would also be entitled to any allowances associated with this.
You can be exempt from income tax depending on the kind of your photography (landscapes, nudes, etc. might be accepted as art) and it which form you sell it. I am exempt for the books I published and will publish (I am probably the one photographer who got exempt last year), you can also be exempt for prints and similar “work of art”. You have to provide samples of your work and the decision if your photography is art lies with Revenue. However I don’t know how things are if you do the artist business part time. Drop me a line to carstenkriegerhotmail.com and I can send you some documents & application form.
Carsten
Carsten Krieger Photography – http://www.thecapturedlight.com
I have just had a look at the lists and there are 77 photographers who qualified in the period 2002 to June this year, including at least one member of this site :)
Carsten you’re in just for your writing.
Whilst it is correct to say that Revenue have the final say, the guidlines are straightforward and if these are fulfilled, they don’t have a lot of choice but to accept in reality.
I set up my website recently selling fine art prints of my landscapes and heard you can get tax relief. I talked to my accountant. He told me to check out the inland revenue site. It’s http://www.revenue.ie. It explains it all there. Look under tax exemption and than artist’s exemption. It’s seems it’s nothing to do with making a loss or a profit. It’s to do with the nature of the photograpghs and how much is earned as an “artist”. You can earn up to €250,000 net. If you make a living also say as a wedding photographer than you are just taxed from this work as long as you earn less than €250,000 as an artist. So than I got really excited. I rang up the inland revenue to ask a few questions. The reason why so few photographers classify for tax exemption is that the photos (which are assessed for their artistic merit) may be sold as limited editions of 5 maximum. So that threw a spanner in the works. I think most limited editions are minimum 25. :cry:
I am an architect but I understood from the company that is looking after my tax that if the photo is black and white and sold through an Art Gallery then you are tax exempt. Checking with the Revenue Office does not help as they will, most of the time, give you an advice that is in their favor. Check with a good accountant and they will be the best to advice you.
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