How many of you register your djing as a business?
Is this something that would be beneficial in the long run. As i keep buying tracks and gear I’m wondering if it makes financial sense to do it. Any advice is appreciated.
where are you based? UK or US?
I have done that here in finland but i don’t know how it works in other countries, myself I have had quite nice reduction in my taxrate as i but all my equipment puchaces to worktool reduction, example CDJ’s, mixer, controller, cd’s, 3 laptop, earplug, clothes as stake wear and so on and so on…
Yarsky is right you can get decent tax deductions on lots of bis and bobs, but after a while(in the UK) unless your coming close to breaking even or making a profit they will start asking questions how and why your running a business at a massive loss and its not just a scam for getting tax breaks. That said you obviously dont have to claim everything, but you will need some sort of income.
I’m based in Canada I have been making money from djing but only between 1000-2000 a year.
I’ve got no clue on the Canadian tax system, but if you’ve got an income from djing you could register it.
10% deductions on tax returns here. I work for a DJ agency and a studio so no point in personal registration (I run many events by myself but they get to print the bill)
here in AUS most clubs (from my experience) wont pay you unless you have an A.B.N (australian business number). besides it is worth it as my accountant said i can claim anything related to the music business; music/dj/production mags.. concert/festival tickets.. petrol to and from concerts/music stores/etc.. blank cds/dvds.. music cds.. depreciation on computers/dj gear.
basically anything you can think of or justify as a purchase for researching purposes, or for getting your job done you can claim (if you keep the receipts!). anything except for clothes, food, and drink!
the way i see this going down:
“so this playboy mag here…youre saying its job related?”
“yes sir”
“how?”
“well,sir, im dj 5 dolla holla, and to get the bitches, i need to know what the bitches like”
“i see, so thats why ‘pick up a hooker’ is also on this list?”
“oh, no, that was part of my to do list. i was high on some coke at the time, i must have gotten the papers mixed up”
“you realize what you just said, right?”
“yes, but the cocaine is job related”
“i see…”
Thats probably how it works in the US
RR & DD
that’s pretty much how the accountant explained it to me.
I claim DJ’ing as a business, however my expenses far outweigh my income, so I still claim it as a loss. A lot of people I know have high paying jobs, and they claim the DJ equipment they buy as a business loss. Just so happens that most of these people have a huge amount of money that they would rather put into gear than pay the government, so it works out perfectly. It’s not illegal, as long as within 3 years you are profitable or quit claiming it as a loss.