To Virginia photographers: do you charge sales tax?

[valentinephoto]

*** deleted this posting because it's being treated like I'm asking for legal advice - which I'm not ****

[tim]

I find my accountant to be an invaluable resource for questions like this. I'd suggest you look around for a one man band who's happy with small customers, or a firm specialising in smaller businesses.

[Patrick]

Charge sales tax then stick it in a high yield money market account.
Even if you have to pay it to the state you'll still have earned some money on it. Nothing is worse than the tax man coming after you wanting the tax dollars and the interest and then paying it out of your own pocket.

[valentinephoto]

I just don't have the kind of money to hire an accountant, nor do I need their services. During my last business - which I had for three years before closing down to due my own health issues, I never needed one and collected/paid sales tax just fine on my own. Between my husband and I, we had all that covered. I do the same thing with my new business. We are the type of people that would do it ourself before paying anyone to do something we can do - this isn't just for the business side of things, it's for everything.

But anyways, that's not what I'm asking. I'm just asking what other VA photographers do in terms of sales tax and what they charge sales tax on (just their photography services, just the products they sell, etc.). Not to get advice from them, but to see what everyone else is doing. After talking with a few VA photog's, that's why I bring up the question here to get a sense of the norm, since I think the laws are written for "old school" photography and not digital.

[Tigershark]

I would call your secretary of state and they should be able to anser your question for free. In KY I charge sales tax on only items sold, pictures, prints etc not on services. They are paid quarterly

[amfoto1]

Spend the money to consult with an accountant. Do not rely on info from the Internet or even discussion with other photographers locally.

I know someone who operated his studio for some period of time based on bad info he'd been given... Then got hit with a bill for over $600,000 of back taxes, fines and interest. He managed to clear it up, but is very, very careful about who he listens to now.

So, IMHO, it's very much worth $150 or $300 in consulting fees paid to the right person to get the right answer and not screw around with this! Wrong info can be very costly.

[valentinephoto]

I don't think I am explaining myself clearly here. I'm not looking for advice on what I should do, but I'm asking what VA photographers do based on a conversation I had with other VA photog's and how widely different the reponses were.

I've already gotten a response from the VA tax people (yes, I call them tax people).

Again - I'm not asking for advice on what I should do. I was just trying to see what everyone else was doing to see if everyone else was just "doing what they thought" or "doing what they were told" or whatever the case may be. Just curiosity.

Nevermind this post.