Category: Checklist

6 great resources for writing for the web

14/10/2017

This is a list of six articles which focus on effective writing for web and business writing which I think you'll find useful.

They provide great tips and techniques for effective writing for the web which makes life simple for your reader and creates engagement and come from from reputable sources.

I've previously written on this website about Writing for the Web - specifically in relation to the development of your website. I'll be adding these articles into this web page above if you just one bookmark for future reading and reference!

The articles below are generic - meaning they're not specifically written for artists who are developing websites and anywhere else where their text is read online. However the tips and techniques provided are BASIC to good writing for the web which create engagement.

Here are the six articles which all come from reputable sources. Some provide lists and checklists you'll want to make a note of or bookmark.

10 plain English principles for writing better web content | GatherContent - this is an ace list of absolute basics for effective writing for the web which gets engagement
Writing for the Web | BBC Journalism Academy - although this relates to generic news-writing, the guidance is still valuable in relation to basic tips and techniques for the basics of writing engaging news online, covering language, style, visual appeal - and how to avoid making mistakes.
Writing for the Web | NYU - New York University provides a very good and quick to read guide providing top tips covering readability and tone; scannability; length, links, search engine optimised writing and cultural sensitivities.
Web writing basics: frontloading | University of St. Andrews - 'Frontloading' is a technique which I employ all the time but don't always remember to highlight as a technique to study
The rules for clear, effective business writing | Financial Times - a bit 'heavy duty' but keep going, there's lots of excellent tips and things to make a note of in this article
Why you should make proofreading part of your content strategy | GatherContent - includes some great tips for eliminating mistakes within your text

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Want to set up an online art gallery with ecommerce?

28/4/2017

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I got an email this morning asking questions about the tax aspects of setting up an online art gallery and ecommerce which involved artists and paying customers who might be located anywhere in the world

Below you can read:

the email I got and the "short sharp" response I sent below.
a checklist for anybody thinking about setting up an ecommerce facility to sell art

What are the tax implications of selling art online?

This is the email. I've numbered the questions to make them more accessible online in a blog post

Dear Katherine,

Firstly, I owe you my sincerest gratitude for all the information you have presented on this website. It has answered many questions I had and for that I am grateful.

I am on the verge of launching an e-commerce online gallery and I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me. This my first time dealing with anything to do with e-commerce and selling online so there is still a lot I don’t understand.

1) Some of the artists who I represent do not reside within the UK or the EU, and there is no guarantee that any paying customer would reside within the UK or EU either. How would this affect me regarding tax?

2) When this business takes off, I plan on becoming location independent. How will this affect my tax status as I won’t be living within the UK but my business will be registered in Britain?

3) How would it work when it comes to putting an address on my invoice if I’m only in the same location for a limited amount of time?

Thank you again,
Kind regards,

Mr Gallery Man ( a pseudonym)

It generated a very "to the point" response from me!

Dear Mr Gallery Man

If you are setting up a business you need professional (i.e. paid) tax advice from an expert to make sure that:
- you are aware of all your legal responsibilities tax wise
- where you live and where you operate are tax efficient given who you expect your customers to be
- you get to keep your house because the tax man doesn't come looking for the tax that you have avoided - with penalties and a possible prison sentence
This is serious. You need proper advice. That's not going to come from me.

The next point I'd make is that I have seen any number of people have the bright idea of setting up an online art gallery operating through ecommerce in the last 10 years. I'd say round about 95-99% of them no longer exist.

I think you need to do more research about the marketplace and what sort of investment you need to make in time and effort - and contacts / social media following - to make it work.

My one piece of advice for you is if you have never run a business before and if you have never been involved in the art market before, run away fast before you waste an awful lot of money for no return.

Regards

CHECKLIST:
How not to get stung when setting up ecommerce!

Do thorough research first. You should never be starting any business where you don't fully understand the full implications. Those that do go out of business very fast. How anybody could be contemplating starting an ecommerce business without what understanding what they are getting into is beyond me!
Get professional tax advice if you plan to set up a business. You're an amateur. You haven't got a clue what you don't know about tax. Tax experts exist for a reason. Paying for tax advice is a legitimate business expense which is deductible against tax - so long and only if it is related to the business and not your personal income. If you can't afford the tax advice you definitely can't afford to set up in business involving ecommerce.
Understand the competition - you need to research and understand the business model adopted by your competitors. Those who are still in business after few years either know what they're doing, have good advisers, are prepared to keep going even if they're not making much money - and/ir the tax man has not yet caught up with them. Take a look at how where they are located and how they deal with local taxes on transactions for people living in different countries. Don't assume that what they are doing is correct, however it gives you a basis for an intelligent discussion with a tax expert!
There is no escaping tax liability - make sure you don't get landed with an enormous tax bill! - Governments have woken up to the fact that they are losing out massively on tax revenues through the amount of business which is now transacted online. Tax authorities are now paying a lot more attention to online businesses. You should assume that anything you are doing which evades payment of tax (whether deliberate or inadvertent) will result in a tax bill plus penalties plus a possible prison sentence. They are getting very serious about this.
Understand the differences in tax treatment of private sales vs sales via art dealers and galleries. What quite a few people don't understand is that private sales - between an sole trader artist and a paying customer are very different from sales via third parties. There's also a difference between a third party which hosts a site that enables artists to make contact with paying customers and those where the artist is represented by a gallery and sells art via the dealer/gallery online. The differences largely relate to thresholds for payments of additional taxes; liability for additional taxes unrelated to thresholds and whether they way the ecommerce is configured is deemed to be an evasion of tax.
Understand why Tax gets much more complicated when transactions are online. You have to make sure you observe the tax regime for where you live, where your business is located - and also where your paying customer lives. For example, with respect to the pursuit of lost income from tax on online transactions for digital services, the EU changed the treatment for all digital transactions in 2015. Now VAT is payable based on the place where the customer lives NOT where the artist or the business is located - and there is no minimum threshold for registration in another country (a total nightmare!). They're also not at all keen on people trying to get round this by saying they won't do business with anybody outside the country where they live - and were threatening penalties for this last time I read up on this!

EU VAT rule change
From 1 January 2015, the rules around the European Union (EU) VAT place of supply of services will change. This will affect the sales of digital services (broadcasting, telecommunications and e-services) from a business to a consumer (private individuals and non-business entities for example, public authorities or charitable bodies). The place of taxation will be determined by the location of the consumer.
VAT: businesses supplying digital services to private consumers

Bottom line, if you are

operating as a sole trader as an artist or art tutor involving ecommerce
or you are hosting an online gallery with ecommerce facilities for selling art for artists you represent and/or other artists,

you need to be very careful that you have sought professional advice and checked out all relevant tax aspects for your particular set-up - which you have explained very clearly to your tax adviser. (NB Only telling them what you think is relevant isn't a helpful approach since you don't know what you don' know!)

Just because somebody says they operate in a particular way doesn't make that right or legal - unless they can produce the letter from their tax advisors explaining what they can and cannot do!

BTW I'm NOT a professional tax expert. You should make sure you also read the note below about what this site does not do.

You can learn a lot from authoritative tax sites online - but they don't have all the answers!

More information about tax and vat for artists

You can read more information on this website on the following pages in the Money and Tax section

Tax Tips for Artists
VAT for Artists

The information I collect, collate and organise on this website largely relates to information accessible to anybody from authoritative sites - either formal government tax authorities or professional tax advisers. Plus some common sense advice from me about how to organise your tax affairs.

What this site does not do

This site does NOT provide:

Definitive answers on all matters relating to tax records for where you live.
"Professional advice" available from somebody with a tax qualification and current expertise of tax affairs anywhere in the world.

I recommend that you pay a professional for tax advice IF:

your tax affairs are complicated
you have a specific tax query which you can't find an answer to from official information available online.

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Art Business Info: NEWS

6 great resources for writing for the web

Want to set up an online art gallery with ecommerce?

What are the tax implications of selling art online?

CHECKLIST:
How not to get stung when setting up ecommerce!

More information about tax and vat for artists

What this site does not do

Be smart about Vanity Art Galleries

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Author

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Art Business Info: NEWS

6 great resources for writing for the web

Want to set up an online art gallery with ecommerce?

What are the tax implications of selling art online?​

CHECKLIST: ​How not to get stung when setting up ecommerce!​

More information about tax and vat for artists​

What this site does not do

Be smart about Vanity Art Galleries

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Author

Archives

Categories

What are the tax implications of selling art online?

CHECKLIST:
How not to get stung when setting up ecommerce!

More information about tax and vat for artists