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Taxes
Hi, I am getting ready to start a video company and setting it up as an LLC. My question is have many of you have to charge state sales tax? I know it depends on the state you are in. I am in Missouri and some people tell me yes and some say no. I haven't heard of any production companies having to charge sales tax before.
Thanks, Bryan |
Call your local Certified Public Accountant. It's much cheaper than getting the incorrect advise and it doesn't cost much for them to do it for you.
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Good advice from Jon. Best to talk to a CPA. In Indiana if we provide a tangible good then we have to collect State sales tax. In our case its what we charge for the DVD + 6%. We charge $20.00 per DVD.
John |
Absolutely talk to a CPA. Tax laws vary from state to state, even from one city to another. In Colorado, I don't have to charge tax as long as I am performing a service ... producing a wedding video. However, once the project is complete and delivered, I will have to charge sales tax on any additional copies of the video.
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When I asked my accountant this question, he called the Iowa Department of Revenue and was told that if the final product is tangible, the whole project is subject to sales tax. I wish I could charge $1 for the physical media and $(n-1) for the "service" of creating the video, with n being as large as I want, but that's not how they want it done. At least not here in Iowa - and to be honest, it makes sense to me this way. (Think of a book, sales tax applies to the total price, not just the cost of the paper.)
- Martin |
Why call a CPA? Go straight to the source and call your state's department of revenue. It's a free call.
Here in Minnesota, I have to charge sales tax on the deliverable items, which pretty much is limited to DVDs. So when I complete a project for a client, I have to break the charges down into non-taxable service items (shooting and editing) and the taxable deliverable (the DVD). You have to put a price on the DVD copy, so I charge $10. Quote:
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For what it's worth...
Most of my work is labor only, so here in NC, no sales tax gets charged on my labor. (however, there's talk of changing this) When I do a project that requires delivery of a product, (DVD) it's sales-taxable. |
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If, on the other hand, a client asks for electronic delivery of a project, and then later decides that she wants a DVD with the material, then I need to collect sales tax only for the DVD. - Martin |
I agree with calling your state's sales tax department. Ask for an actual auditor. Even then it's not always clear. I had one auditor tell me I had to charge sales tax on my wedding videos, and the next day I was talking to a different auditor and he told me that I didn't. I asked how I could be getting different answers and he just said that it comes down to interpretation of the law sometimes.
I just charge sales tax at this point to avoid any potential "interpretation" issues. I haven't had a single client complain either. People are used to paying sales tax. |
By the way, I was told that I couldn't get around this by just charging $10 on a separate invoice for the DVD. If the shooting/editing were paid for to produce the DVD, then you have to charge sales tax on the full amount of the work done. Just what I was told by the auditor.
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