Need requirements to sell on line

[Grandpaw]

I have a Pro Smugmug account and I need to know what is needed to be able to sell on line. Do I need a tax ID or business license? I have the site set up and would like to be able to turn on the buy option to see if any of my photos will sell but I do not want to get in trouble by not operating correctly. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated, Jeff.

[jorgemonkey]

Not a lawyer but I have seen the closer a few times - I sold some pics online before I actually got my biz license & my resell certificate. My reasoning is that my gallery hosting company collected the sales tax & everything else and paid it for me. I just had to make sure I reported the check I received from them on my income tax statement.

When in doubt, give your state tax board a call, they'll let you know.

[ciddog91]

jm....great advice. I just registerd my business and need to get a sales tax license for Michigan as I am a "service provider"..

Like you said, when in doubt, as the state tax board....

Good Luck Grandpaw....

Phil

[dbutler]

I'm a smugmugger, too, and I registered my business with the State of WA. Of course, for me, it also involved registering with the county, and the town I lived in. Most places have a very specific way to go about it, but their guidelines are spelled out somewhere in town, I'm sure! They all like to have that finger poked into the pie. But as long as I stayed under a certain amount (and it eludes me now as to how much it was) I could just use my social on my tax forms to report the income and didn't really need a business license as long as I stayed poor (though it was such a gray area that I just decided to go for it) . I think Jorge gave great advice.

Here's some reading for you that might (or might not) help:

http://ci.ocean-springs.ms.us/downlo...ss_in_O.S..pdf
http://ci.ocean-springs.ms.us/downlo...pplication.pdf

[Grandpaw]

jorgemonkey, I was wondering if all I needed to do was show the amount i received from SmugMug as income and not have to deal with the taxes due to the fact that Smugmug collects the taxes. It looks to me like if you purchase a picture that you are buying it from Smugmug and they just send me a check for the use of the picture. When I get this figured out I will post the information. Thanks, Jeff

Phil, I have been trying to get in touch with the tax board but have not gotten a response yet. Thanks, Jeff

Dee, thanks for the information. I did read both items and I am still researching what I need to do. Thanks, Jeff

[jorgemonkey]

Thats what I did. Depending on how much you sell (I think, may be everyone) the place that hosts my pics near tax time sends me a 10990-misc (I think thats the form) which shows the total they paid me for the year. Thats the amount that I declare on my taxes.

[Ray Dockrey]

It looks to me from this that if you make less than $600 in sales in the year it does not have to be reported to the IRS.

Note about taxes and 1099 forms. As per the IRS requirements, by January 31st we issue a 1099 to all U.S. pro photographers who meet the following criteria:

1. You have received profit payments from SmugMug totaling $600 or more in the previous calendar year. Profits for your 1099 are calculated based on the date the payments to you were processed, not the date your orders were placed.

2. You are NOT a corporation or non-profit.

If you do not qualify to receive a 1099 or if you are unsure if you should expect one, you can determine your profits from the previous year through the your Sales History where you can download a spreadsheet containing all of your sales information.

[Grandpaw]

Thanks everyone for your replies. From talking with several fellow photographers that I know it looks like all I need to do is start selling photos and if it goes over the $600.00 mark I will get a 1099 form and need to show it on my income tax form as income. Looks like after I get the form filled out on SmugMug I will be ready to go. Thanks again to everyone for you helpful replies, Jeff

[ciddog91]

Grandpaw....

Nice site. And a question for you... Does smugmug collect and PAY the taxes or do they collect them, pay it to you and then you pay the sales tax???

Just wondering...

Keep up the great work..

Phil

[Lori11]

Just an FYI, SmugMug has a great forum for answering any question you can think of! I dont sell mine from there, but I have used their forums many times for site questions