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Tax returns/VAT
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Hi, I have just registered as a self-employed photographer this Aug and am discovering the joys of filing tax returns which I am finding very difficult and confusing. Do you all file your own returns or would you reccommend that I get an accountant? If so can anyone reccommend one in the Galway area and give me a rough idea of what kind of annual fee I would expect to pay for their services? I am also very confused about the issue of VAT and in particular whether photograhy would be classed as goods or service? My first thought was that it would be a service but then it is the finished products ie. prints/albums/CDs that the customer is really paying for isnt’t it?
Any advice would be much appreciated – cheers!get an accountant – you dont need to file anything (VAT) in the first year.
get receipts for every penny you spend – if you are self employed you can write off a decent amount of various stuff.
your accountant may not know but here are just some of them that I know of.
ie.
€15 per day food allowance if you are out of the office for 8hours of the day.
Clothing allowance per year I think is €200 – this can be rain gear or other work related clothes.
Parking can be claimed – so keep all them park and pay tickets.
Vat on Diesel …. hopefully you have a diesel car/van for work.
Vat on equipment…. thats 21.5% you can claim back on every purchase made from a shop in Ireland.
Interest on bank loans is written offable :Dif you get a decent enough accountant they will know the above – there’s loads of other items which are not as straight forward.
PS. Dont be surprised when the accountant asks you to prepare the books (ie. you make out an income/expenditure account, money in, money out list and work related expenses, …. not sure about prices in Galway – but in Dublin you can expect to pay 1000 a year – which can be written off.
it might be worth doing a self-auditing course or buying some software (like SAGE)Hey, thanks for that. I would never have thought to put down some of those expenses! I have been keeping receipts and calculating taxable income monthly etc so thats not a problem. Just need help filling up and keeping track of all paperwork really.
I am in the same boat. so here are a few points:
1. from what I gather you don’t need to file in the first year, however this year may be slighlty different as the income levy is due this year.
2. you provide a service the goods are an add on therefore you can earn €37,500 per year without charging VAT however if you are going to go above that you should charge VAT on everything
3. although you cannot claim for capital expenses you can claim for capital allowance which is either 1/3 or 1/5 of the value of the item.
4. I am now trying to work out if you can claim milage as per the revenue guidelines for employees. which can become quite a little earner :)Darkstar
Have you been in the business a while – unofficially? Registering for VAT means that you expect to earn 37,500 per annum – thats a fair chunk of work if you are only starting out.
Not sure what kind of photography you are into but could you registeer as an artist and avoid all taxes – like BOD’s girlfriend with her recent boot? Dont know of anyone doing this, and not sure how it works, but surely if you are a landscape or similar (not PJ or sports) you should have a fighting chance – anyone know?
Like already said – keep receipts for everything and anything. I’ve even heard of people keeping meal receipts when out for a bite with family / friends and claining that they were meeting a potential client – hard to believe that goes on though…….. Equipment takes 8 years to claim back – show me an active photographer using 8 year old equipment and I’ll throw a few meal receipts your way…
Go get a creative accountant – even if its just to get you off the ground. Once you learn the tricks of the trade and what you are entitled not not give those dirty rotten revenue guys then it should be plain sailing – unless you start to diversify the biz and go into something mew. But a photographers in and outs remain similar for a long time
I have an artist exemption but it only covers art works and not commercial works of any nature and as far as i can remember only up to 8 editions of one piece of work. I also work for press and teaching and all this is taxable. I work from home and gather reciepts for everything, petrol, medical, electricity and phone bills, rent, car tax and insurance, liability insurance etc. its a nightmare but you get used to gathering everything
Have a look at this. It makes a bit of sense and isn’t the most confusing piece of tax info I’ve found.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/photography.html” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
Aidan
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