Paying tax as a tattoo artist

adhorrig

My girlfriend is working as a tattoo artist and wishes to start paying tax. She has worked for two different tattoo shops, both of which have paid her cash and that's it. It doesn't seem like any shop in Dublin goes through PAYE, which is frustrating. It's all commission and cash based. She doesn't own or run these shops so I guess she is an employee. Additionally, she doesn't do side work when working for a shop as she is full time in them.

What would be the best course of action to start paying tax? I don't think she is self-employed since she is working for the shop. If a tattoo costs €100, she takes home €55 each ~ 55%. She has been keeping track of all expenses i.e. inks, equipment, self advertising. Unfortunately, the shop(s) never gave payslips at the end of each week to show how much has been earned for that week. We can see lodgments into the bank which would be pretty close to her earnings. Might lose €5 or €10 here and there for the bus pass or so.

So I guess our question is, what is the best way to register this tax? Going forward she plans keep receipts for all her work, I guess an invoice or something similar for each customer - at least with this she can see how much has been earned exactly. Kept in an excel sheet or hand written.

Any advise would be fantastic. I've searched all over for threads on tattoo artists paying tax but haven't been able to find anything at all.

scheister

adhorrig wrote: »

My girlfriend is working as a tattoo artist and wishes to start paying tax. She has worked for two different tattoo shops, both of which have paid her cash and that's it. It doesn't seem like any shop in Dublin goes through PAYE, which is frustrating. It's all commission and cash based. She doesn't own or run these shops so I guess she is an employee. Additionally, she doesn't do side work when working for a shop as she is full time in them.

What would be the best course of action to start paying tax? I don't think she is self-employed since she is working for the shop. If a tattoo costs €100, she takes home €55 each ~ 55%. She has been keeping track of all expenses i.e. inks, equipment, self advertising. Unfortunately, the shop(s) never gave payslips at the end of each week to show how much has been earned for that week. We can see lodgments into the bank which would be pretty close to her earnings. Might lose €5 or €10 here and there for the bus pass or so.

So I guess our question is, what is the best way to register this tax? Going forward she plans keep receipts for all her work, I guess an invoice or something similar for each customer - at least with this she can see how much has been earned exactly. Kept in an excel sheet or hand written.

Any advise would be fantastic. I've searched all over for threads on tattoo artists paying tax but haven't been able to find anything at all.

This area can be a little strange at times.

Do your GF provide all her own equipment
Who sets her hours of work
is she allowed work in more than one shop at time
Does she got holiday/Bank holiday pay
If no body walked into the shop during a day would she still get paid

adhorrig

scheister wrote: »

This area can be a little strange at times.

Do your GF provide all her own equipment
Who sets her hours of work
is she allowed work in more than one shop at time
Does she got holiday/Bank holiday pay
If no body walked into the shop during a day would she still get paid

I figured as much, so little about it online too. Her hours are set by the shops business hours. They are flexible, i.e. if it's not busy then she can leave for home if she wants. Nope, can only work in her current shop. Nothing for holidays or bank holidays and not paid if no one walks into the shop.

scheister

adhorrig wrote: »

I figured as much, so little about it online too.
Her hours are set by the shops business hours. They are flexible, i.e. if it's not busy then she can leave for home if she wants.
Nope, can only work in her current shop.
Nothing for holidays or bank holidays and not paid if no one walks into the shop.

1. Her hours are set by the shops business hours. They are flexible, i.e. if it's not busy then she can leave for home if she wants.
2. Nope, can only work in her current shop.
3. Nothing for holidays or bank holidays and
4. Not paid if no one walks into the shop.

First 2 scream that she is an employee not self employed or a contractor. which would make 3 and 4 illegal. Would not be certain if they could say she was a contractor and get around it that way. These are always hard to deal with advise to go talk to someone who could give full details and her likely situation and best way to go forward

Mrs OBumble

Who pays for the inks and other tools she uses?

I'd be arguing that she is self employed .... and looking for how to apply the artists exemption.

adhorrig

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Who pays for the inks and other tools she uses?

I'd be arguing that she is self employed .... and looking for how to apply the artists exemption.

She provides all of her own equipment and ink. The shop provides the customers and space to work.

dennyk

adhorrig wrote: »

She provides all of her own equipment and ink. The shop provides the customers and space to work.

That's a point in favour of being a contractor, though of course there are many other factors.

What happens if she decides not to come in for a day, or only shows up in the afternoons? Does she have the freedom to decide when she works, or does the shop always require her to be present from open to close? Scheduling limitations alone don't necessarily mean she isn't a contractor (obviously there would be practical limitations on when she could work in her particular business, e.g. she couldn't very well provide in-person services to a shop's customers outside of the shop's opening hours), but if the shop exerts significant control over her hours of work instead of her determining what times she will be available to them, that's a point for "employee". Also, forbidding her from working in other shops or not allowing her to spend time away from this shop working elsewhere if she chooses is a strong indication of an employment relationship as well.

adhorrig

dennyk wrote: »

That's a point in favour of being a contractor, though of course there are .

What happens if she decides not to come in for a day, or only shows up in the afternoons? Does she have the freedom to decide when she works, or does the shop always require her to be present from open to close? Scheduling limitations alone don't necessarily mean she isn't a contractor (obviously there would be practical limitations on when she could work in her particular business, e.g. she couldn't very well provide in-person services to a shop's customers outside of the shop's opening hours), but if the shop exerts significant control over her hours of work instead of her determining what times she will be available to them, that's a point for "employee". Also, forbidding her from working in other shops or not allowing her to spend time away from this shop working elsewhere if she chooses is a strong indication of an employment relationship as well.

She can decide to not come in within reason i.e. sick or have an important appointment elsewhere. Although it's not written down anywhere that she has X sick days pa. She would be required to be present, working Mon-Sat with one day off during the week + Sunday. She sometimes does provide services outside of standard hours. I.e. Sundays which the shop is closed, but she might work because it's by appointment only. For sure, she couldn't tattoo in other shops without getting some sort of talking to / warning.

If she we're to be a contractor or self-employed. If here income - expenses is < €18300 pa, would she still be required to declare? She totaled up her income and it's about 1000-1800 per month after expenses. The work is seasonal.

wiggle16

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Who pays for the inks and other tools she uses?

I'd be arguing that she is self employed .... and looking for how to apply the artists exemption.

Artist's exemption would definitely, definitely not apply here, no more than it would to a graphic designer or an architect.

Your girlfriend needs to figure out if she is their employee or not. This should help: https://www.revenue.ie/en/self-assessment-and-self-employment/documents/code-of-practice-on-employment-status.pdf

It looks like a heavy document but give it a read.

It might be helpful also to find out what other people in the shop do about their tax or how the shop treats their pay. I would be leaning towards her being self-employed, that's my understanding of how tattoo parlours work, but if she is then she can decide her own hours and work in other parlours. They can only prohibit her from doing that if they treat her as an employee and operate PAYE on her pay.

In all likelihood she will end up determining that she is self-employed as per the COPES link above, and will therefore have to declare her income on a tax return and deduct the tax herself.