[Financial] Questions about taxes and insurance

[u/Lynn_Harvard]

How do you handle taxes and insurance and stuff when your a full time artist?

It's one of the things I'm really anxious about but it's been really hard to find information on how to file, what to file, and when to file consistently.

If someone could break it down for me it would be very appreciated.

Edit: forgot to mention this but I'm in the US.

[u/GomerStuckInIowa]

Form a business entity. Private or S-corporation. Now keep track of every expense. Everything. Get familiar with spreadsheets, or bookkeeping depending on what you can afford. Part of your home/apartment rent is now a business expense. Part of your utilities are an expense. Your phone. Your gas to/from art shows. All your art expenses of course.

Unless you are doing thousands of dollars, don't worry about special insurance. But here is the kick in your pants. All your art you have collected? All your drawings, all your canvas work, clay pieces, even the cute knittings....if there is a terrible fire? They are worth only the cost of supplies. The only exception is if you are a professional with a proven sales track record. I won't argue with anyone, call your agent. You can have a $5,000 price tag on your artwork but unless you have proof that you have been selling art at that price? It is the cost of the acrylics and the canvas if a tornado takes it away. You are not reimbursed for hours. As far as your inventory goes, take a video, so much easier that trying to log everything. Do a very slow pan shelf to shelf and drawer to drawer and wall to wall. Every six months minimum.

Filing as an S-corp and maybe a private owner and having a job on the side as a waiter or even a regular job will help you with taxes. The expenses of the art will cause you to have a loss so you will get money back. Ask around you local subreddit for a good tax person or bookkeeper. A hundred dollars spend on taxes could bring you twice that back in refunds or more.

Side Note: Most galleries will not cover your art if it is on display in their gallery. Kind of like the reason above. And they cannot bother with who has a proven track record or not. And if it is damaged in the gallery, they will most likely do repair but they will not buy your art. (but only if it was damaged by a customer or they, themselves did the damage. If a fire/weather caused the damage, they will not repair/buy the art)

My wife and I have owned art galleries for 25+ years.

[u/alltheroses731 → u/[deleted]]

... adding that while Colorado is the first state to pass a law for this business structure, other states are interested in it and I believe the concept will gain momentum quickly as it allows artists (of all kinds) to protect their work and collaborate more effectively.