Tax Checklist for a Photographer

Here is a run down of typical tax-related income and expenses of a freelance commercial photographer. Note that this list is not neccessarily complete; you may have other expenses; some or all of these may NOT apply. Also note: if you are a tax client of John Schachter + Associates Inc., we will send you a tax Organizer which will give additional tax questions. It has spaces for business and other income. This brief is to help you be thorough about the expenses you may have had.

INCOME
Income from ALL sources as a photographer: whether paid in cash, check or barter, received in your tax year. Do not include sales tax that you charged to customers in income . If you are selling merchandise or licenses you will need a sales tax I.d. number. Please advise if you need help with this.

EXPENSES
How much you spent via check, cash or through charges on credit cards for the following job costs:

Film
Processing
Service Bureau
Assistants
Location Fee
Assistants (you may have to give them 1099 forms if you paid anybody $600 or more in your tax year - we can help with this)
Prop rental
Prop purchase
Models
Stylist
Courier and Shipping for Jobs
Catering on Set
Travel and Meals for Job - see additional information below

Commissions paid to Representatives

Supplies

General studio and office items - toner, paper, Zip disks, flowers for office

Books, magazines, newspapers

Photo research materials - i.e., items you may have purchased to inform or guide your creative process - cds, books, small prop items.

Gallery fees

Jury fees for contests

Business entertainment

General postage and shipping

Travel away from home overnight on business - Air, Train, Hotel, rental car- and meals while on the road.

The IRS gives you the option of keeping receipts for meals while on the road and deducting these as meals expense OR using a standard dollars-per-day allowance.

You can use the allowance even if it is more than your actual expenses. To figure this allowance, we need:

For places visited on business in the US: Number of nights spent in each place

For places outside the US:

Date left US
Date returned
Country(ies) visited and total days in each
Of the days in each country, how many were mostly business and how many mostly
personal or vacation.

Trade memberships
- eg, ASMP

Health insurance paid by you for you - not through payroll

Business long distance charges and/or calling card calls - or the entire cost of a separate business line. You cannot deduct any part of the first line into your home, other than business long distance or calling card calls.

Internet access if used for business

Cell phone tolls if for business

Professional fees

Seminars, classes in design, photo editing or software use, or other business education

Promo or advertising; portfolio etc.

Computer or other repair

Software upgrades or consumables - e.g., fonts; filters - distinguish these from full licenses for PhotoShop, etc which would get treated as part of Equipment.

Business insurance

Equipment - which is defined as a matter of convenience as items with a useful life of more than a year and a cost - combining shipping, sales tax and purchase price - of $300 or more. For equipment items I need:

Date in Service
Description
Total Cost

Apply the same rule to software as to equipment.

If you owned photo gear BEFORE you started your business - ie, while you were a hobbyist, you should STILL list those items. But in place of Total Cost, list Fair Market Value on the date the item was ready for use in your business - if that is less than the total cost of the item when new.

Student loan interest paid - please send Form 1098 E if you got one.

Rental of van or truck or darkroom also counts.

Do you own a car? If so, did you use it for business? (Commuting does NOT count).

If so, I need to know:

Make and model of car
Total miles driven for any purpose in your tax year
Business miles in your tax year
Gas
Oil
Lube
Repair
Insurance
Tires
Excise tax
Interest on car loan - I can help you figure this if you do not know

If car is leased, total lease payments

Date you first used this car in business
Amount you paid for car when you bought it
Amount it was worth when you put it into use in your business

Business tolls and parking

Dates and amounts paid to IRS and/or state in this tax year and the one after. If your only tax payments were through payroll, then, fine - just tell me that.

If you keep equipment, a studio or an office at home: What part of your home does the "home office" take up? Figure percent of square footage of the part regularly and exclusively used as a principal place of business. You can also count as a home office a place in your home used for accounting and administration, if this is the only place available to you to do this work. How much did you pay in 2001 for this residence for:

rent
utilities
repairs - i.e., paint, miscellaneous fix-ups
insurance
Also: Landlord's name (needed for Massachusetts taxes)

Phew!

If you are a client, call or email me with questions about all this. Or hack through it
and send me the results; I will ask you for more stuff if I need to.

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