Blog Archives

VAT for Artists

19/6/2016

Do you know

how VAT applies to artists and
when it ought to be applied to your business activities as an artist or art teacher or exhibition organiser or gallery owner?

Last week I wrote an article for 'The Artist' Magazine about VAT on art and for artists - which should be published in the October edition.

Trying to work out how to make sense of VAT for artists on one side of A4 paper was a bit of a challenge. It wasn't an easy article to write and it went through several drafts.!

One of the official VAT Notices which the page links to

Last week and this weekend I've taken the opportunity to overhaul and update my webpage about VAT for Artists on this website.

Interestingly it's become one of the most visited pages on this website since it was first published last year. When I developed it, I had a notion that there was a dearth of decent information about VAT for artists - and it seems I was correct.

In compiling the information and writing the content I've taken the line that

I am not a VAT professional and
the information is neither complete, comprehensive or definitive.

That's because it would take a team of people to stay on top of all the various aspects of VAT and how they relate to art!

However the fact that it's a vast and technical subject should not mean that artists and art professionals should remain in ignorance of what's involved,

Not least because getting it wrong can mean major tax bills and penalties for not recognising the need to charge VAT and not submitting both the paperwork and the payments due on time.

So the aim of the page is to provide a baseline of information and some links to the official guidance and decent advice articles which can tell you more.

VAT for Artists covers...

ABOUT VAT

VAT Basics - What is VAT; VAT Tariff Rates
VAT on Art

ABOUT VAT AND THE ART BUSINESS

sales of art
artists' business activity
art education
art museums
commercial art galleries
online galleries
cross border sales and distance selling
open exhibition organisers and art competitions
digital art services and art supplies

Learn how and where to find out what you need to know about VAT for:
artists, art teachers, art exhibition and competition organisers, museums and galleries, and VAT on art supplied or sold by artists in UK and/or EU

What's the good news?

The good news is that

Government guidance on the topic has improved enormously from the time I first became involved with VAT and then subsequently had to deal with VAT returns. It's now a lot more accessible than the legalese I had to deal with in the past!
VAT almost certainly does not apply to leisure artists and all those making low levels of income from their art.

Unless you are supplying any digital related goods or services related to art - where the threshold for VAT registration is £zero - in which case you need to hurry over to the page and read up on the section about VAT and Digital Art Services and Art Supplies!

If you have articles or websites to suggest as useful additions to the page please leave a comment and include the URL. I'll publish the comment if the link is added.

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How to make a video for social media

18/6/2016

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Videos are transforming content on social media at the moment. Right now it's supposed to generate the best reach and response levels on most social media platforms.

However while a lot of people try video at least once, the challenge seems to be about enabling people use video on social media more than once. Those who provide adverts for businesses are also pretty keen to to teach people how to use video for adverts.

This explains why the two major video platforms now have video functionality available:

the YouTube Director app (currently only available for iPhone in the US and Canada) - this is brand new and comes with templates and step by step instructions and is essentially directed at making adverts for businesses
Facebook Live Video - (Live is available to all Pages and profiles on Facebook for iOS, Android, and Facebook Mentions.) This enables you to live stream an event on Facebook. It's a bit like Periscope - but much more accessible. You just press "Go Live". The icon that looks like a head surrounded by a couple of circles (waves) - it's inbetween the movie camera and tag icons on an iPhone. Plus the livestream automatically converts to video after the event so those who missed it can catch up. The link provides a FAQs section for how it works and a TIPS section for how to get the best out of it e.g. telling people when you are going to broadcast!

A screenshot from the Facebook Live Tips section

I'll be developing a video section for the Art Business Info for Artists website which will include links to articles containing tips and techniques on other sites.

In the meantime, I'm just try to work out how I can stream video and take photos at events at the same time inside buildings which don't have great reception!

Artists can use videos for....

Here's a list of things artists can use videos for:

Artists can demonstrate how they draw or paint.
Artists can share their first experiences of a new art medium, tool or piece of equipment.
Art tutors can demonstrate how they demonstrate - and (using Facebook Live) have an interactive dialogue with people watching e.g. answer questions. It gives people a good impression of how good a teacher you are and how much you know (and vice versa!). If you go to my Art Business Info for Artists Facebook Page you can see a first time Facebook Live Video that Sarah Morrish of Nature's Details did this week.
Artists having open studios can indicate where their studios are - it's so much easier when you know what the place looks like that you're trying to visit. Plus they can do a tour of what's on offer. The trick is to provide enough but not too much information!
Artists having private views can livestream from the Private View - or just before it starts!
Artists and/or galleries having exhibitions can create a video advert for the exhibition
Art Groups participating in live events in public spaces can use an video advert to advertise it's happening and then livestream the event.

I'm sure you can think of more uses for art videos!

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Art Business Info: NEWS

VAT for Artists

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How to make a video for social media

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Art Business Info: NEWS

VAT for Artists

VAT for Artists covers...​

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How to make a video for social media

Artists can use videos for....

Art Business Info. News for Artists

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VAT for Artists covers...

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