Category: Tax Tips For Artists

Just over a week left to complete your UK self-assessment tax return

23/1/2019

By way of a reminder to anybody who has still not done their UK self-assessment self-employment tax return!

HMRC sent me a reminder about my tax return today (for some reason I have become severely detached from the dates on the calendar in January!)

This year HMRC has for the first time actually recognised there are people like me i.e.

retired, with a pension,
generating an income and
needing to complete the self-employment part of the tax return.
needing to make a payment to HMRC once the tax return is submitted.

It appears they've become more attuned to the information needs of those people with pensions who also complete a self-assessment return - and some of the ways in which they've not been very good at recognising this in the past.

Tax Tips for Artists

You can read my compendium of Tax Tips for Artists and UK: Tax Tips for Artists based on:

my experience
advice from government and official sources - including links to official documents
expert comment by professional advisers

PLUS some of the very latest YouTube videos BY HMRC to help people to:

register as sole traders,
process their financial data properly for tax purposes (e.g. what you can claim and what you can't claim and simplified ways of doing this)
complete their self-assessment returns
complete their tax payment due at the end of January

NEW - in 2017/18!
Hobby Income Tax Allowance (UK) for artists without a business

For hobby artists, don't forget there's a new change just for you in 2017/18.

If you make more than £1,000 in income from your art (or other trading activities) you MUST complete a self-assessment tax return. If you make less, they let you off the hook - but you must still keep proper records! See the note at the end for how this works.

Tax-free allowances on property and trading income | GOV.UK -

This measure introduces 2 new annual tax allowances for individuals of £1,000 each, one for trading and one for property income
These new allowances take effect as from the tax year 2017 to 2018.
If your annual gross trading OR property income is £1,000 or less and you’re not registered for Self Assessment, you won’t have to declare this income on a tax return.
However you must keep a proper record of this income.

Help from HMRC and YouTube

HMRC has a LOT of very accessible online support designed to help you complete your 2017/18 tax return.

Besides guides which you can download in pdf format, there are a LOT of very useful videos online. For example:

Self assessment help and deadlines playlist has 18 videos
Help for the Self-employed playlist has 14 videos

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Tax Tips for Artists - in the UK, USA, Ireland & Australia

6/12/2018

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Four brand NEW Tax Tips pages

The Tax Tips section of my website now have DEDICATED COUNTRY PAGES for tax tips relevant to each of the countries covered

Tax Tips for Artists - Dedicated Country Pages for UK, USA, Ireland and Australia

These pages are:

UK: Tax for Artists - including links to formal advice from HM Revenue & Customs in the UK
VAT for Artists - relevant to the UK and for trading in and selling to Europe
USA: Tax for Artists - including links to formal advice from the IRS in the USA.
Ireland: Tax for Artists
Australia: Tax for Artists - including relevant links to the Australian taxation Office

In other words, although some tax tips are generic, the way in which each country deals with tax can vary - and hence it seemed more appropriate to
These are all pages which are a work in progress and I will continue to add information them as I come across it and/or issues arise from topical issues online (the latest being tax on the prizes that artists receive - which I'm currently investigating!)

A cautionary note

PLEASE NOTE: Any advice provided comes with absolutely no liability whatsoever. My advice is neither definitive nor professional. Given the size and scope of this site I do NOT warrant that:

any information is complete and/or professional
all links lead to the most current and up to date information

The reason for this is I am not doing this professionally. As with all the content on this website, the law and regulations change all the time and it's very easy to get out of date if you are not doing it full-time.

YOU are in charge of your tax affairs. I RECOMMEND you pay a properly accredited professional for accountancy or tax advice IF:

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

Bottom line, I retired as a professionally qualified accountant when I retired. I know enough to know some of the important issues you need to address. However, these days I'm just doing my best to pull together 'pointers' to issues you may need to consider and some of the places online where you can maybe find the answers to any questions you may have.

Please do take a look at what is on this website.
Please do make sure you ask and pay a qualified professional for any detailed advice you need.

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Tax Tips for Artists in Australia

1/11/2018

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As part of my Tax Tips for Artists in the Money & Tax category section of my website, I've started a couple of NEW Tax Tips pages for Artists - to break out the specific tax aspects relating to artists in specific countries - namely the UK, USA and now Australia and Ireland.

This is about Australia: Tax Tips for Artists.

WHAT THIS IS NOT! The country-specific pages are NOT intended to provide a professional, all angles covered, definitive insight into tax for artists in that country. Not least because I'm in no way qualified to do that.

More it's intended as an alert for artists

highlighting things they may need to think about and
providing the ordinary visual artist with finding organisations, people and websites which are the first step to finding out more about what artists need to know about and deal with when it comes to tax - especially for those who are starting out....

A hobby is a pastime or leisure activity conducted in your spare time for recreation or pleasure. You’re in business, if your activity, as a whole, is commercial with an aim to make a profit.
Business or Hobby | Australian Government

Australia: Tax Tips for Artists covers:

The hobby vs business question - can you claim expenses against tax?
Australian Taxation Office - links to information that artists need to know about
Other resources about tax - for visual artists and arts organisations in Australia.
Tax for Australian Art Collectors - and the Cultural Gifts Program

While "Other Resources" includes a list of specialist tax advisers, I'm emphatically NOT recommending any specific accountants,

However I am trying to create a list of those who

claim to specialise in providing accounting services to visual artists - and
hence are more likely to know how to tackle any particularly specialist question which the Australian Taxation Office's information online does not seem to cover.

If you've got any suggestions of websites or organisations or people which provide provide helpful information or advice about tax, please drop me a line.

NOTE: This is the third in the country specific tax tips pages. You can also read about:

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The bonus if you're selling art - but not a lot!

7/4/2018

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There's a bonus for the lots of "hobby artists" living in the UK who make money by selling their art - but n0t a lot. You may not have to pay tax on that income!

Why not check out if you're one of the lucky ones?

HMRC updated its guidance Tax-free allowances on property and trading income yesterday (6th April 2018) for the 2018-19 tax year

Here in brief are the rules:

If your annual gross trading income is £1,000 or less, from one or more trades you may not have to tell HMRC, however there are circumstances when you must register for Self Assessment and declare your income on a tax return.
You must keep records of this income. This is known as ‘full relief’
If your annual gross trading or property income, from one or more trades or businesses is more than £1,000 you can use the tax-free allowances, instead of deducting any expenses or other allowances.
If you use the allowances you can deduct up to £1,000, but not more than the amount of your income. This is known as ‘partial relief’.
If your expenses are more than your income it may be beneficial to claim expenses instead of the allowances.
Gross income means the total amount you would put on your tax return before any allowances or expenses are taken off. This applies whether you use the cash basis or traditional accounting.

However you must still KEEP PROPER RECORDS. HMRC can charge you a penalty if the records you keep aren’t accurate, complete and readable or if you don’t retain them for the required period of time.

If you use the trading or property income allowances you must keep a record of your income.
Examples of the records you may need to keep are:
- copies of your invoices, paper or electronic
- a spreadsheet of your income receipts
- emails confirming income received
- statements from the company who paid you which show the amount you received
- bank statements
- bank deposit pay-in records
- a diary or appointments book showing your income from each customer

If your income is more than £1,000

However, You must tell HMRC if you have:

gross trading income over £1,000 - register for Self Assessment
other gross income over £1,000 up to £2,500 - contact HMRC
other income over £2,500 - register for Self Assessment

More about Tax

You can read more Tax Tips for Artists on my website

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Tax Tips for Artists - a talk at Heatherley School of Art

20/2/2018

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I'll be giving a talk on Tax Tips for Artists on 5th March 2018 at 4.30pm, in my capacity of Visiting Lecturer at The Heatherley School of Art,

The talk is FREE but my talks tend to get a lot of students and artists attending so it very much works on the basis of first there gets a seat!

The talk is for all those who want to get on top of their tax affairs before any omissions or errors catch up with them!

why - and when - you need to register for tax
why being a hobby artist is different from an artist who MUST do a business tax return
the difference between a personal tax return and a business tax return
timescales for getting on top of your tax
records you need to keep
what you need to declare
what you can and can't claim as expenses and allowances against tax
how to pay your tax
one thing you MUST know about VAT!

This page tells you where Heatherley's is and how to get to it by car and public transport.

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Just over a week left to complete your UK self-assessment tax return

Tax Tips for Artists

NEW - in 2017/18!
Hobby Income Tax Allowance (UK) for artists without a business

Help from HMRC and YouTube

Tax Tips for Artists - in the UK, USA, Ireland & Australia

Four brand NEW Tax Tips pages

A cautionary note

Tax Tips for Artists in Australia

The bonus if you're selling art - but not a lot!

If your income is more than £1,000

More about Tax

Tax Tips for Artists - a talk at Heatherley School of Art

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

Art Business Info: NEWS

Just over a week left to complete your UK self-assessment tax return

Tax Tips for Artists​

NEW - in 2017/18!​Hobby Income Tax Allowance (UK) for artists without a business​

Help from HMRC and YouTube​

Tax Tips for Artists - in the UK, USA, Ireland & Australia

Four brand NEW Tax Tips pages

A cautionary note

Tax Tips for Artists in Australia

The bonus if you're selling art - but not a lot!

​If your income is more than £1,000

More about Tax

Tax Tips for Artists - a talk at Heatherley School of Art

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

Tax Tips for Artists

NEW - in 2017/18!
Hobby Income Tax Allowance (UK) for artists without a business

Help from HMRC and YouTube

If your income is more than £1,000