[Erotica] Selling short stories & Paying Tax - potential secondary income

Odd_Fig_23

Hi,

I been googling and researching for weeks, but I'm having no luck with finding answers. Any chance you can help me out? Just have two questions:

Would someone already in full-time employment qualify for the Artist's exemptions or would they qualify for the difference (50k - salary). Does erotica even qualify?

Also, I've recently learned that to qualify for the Artist's Exemption, you have to apply for the exemption for each piece of work. I plan to self-publish my short stories individually and as bundles. Due to the taboo theme, I'll be using Smashwords as that's basically the only platform I can sell them on.

Would I be better off trying to sell my books myself and then just at the end of the year telling revenue, I took in €X (assuming i even sell a copy) and then pay whatever they tell me?

Appreciate the advice,

Kind Regards

IndieScribe

Hi Odd Fig,

I've claimed the Artists Exemption for books. The only requirements I can see looking at the application form and the letter granting the exemption are that you must be tax resident in Ireland and you must make a full return of income (i.e. a Form 11 tax return) in order to claim the exemption. Best to check that with Revenue to be absolutely clear. There's an Artists Exemption Unit. I've found them very helpful though busy at times. Visualartists.ie also has a good article on tax and self-employment for artists including information about the exemption and a few worked examples of tax calculations.

I can't see any reason why erotica wouldn't qualify for the exemption. It is original, creative fiction.

For your second question, I first want to clarify that Revenue says: "Provided they fall within the guidelines all future works in the same category will be deemed to qualify." So if you apply and are granted the exemption for one of your stories, you shouldn’t need to submit another application for similar future works.

When you’re granted a favourable determination, they may be more specific about this in their letter. For example, mine says that I don’t need to submit further examples of my fiction work as they’re all deemed to qualify for the exemption provided they come within the guidelines. However, if I started writing non-fiction, I would need to make a new application.

My advice is to go ahead with writing and publishing. If you start earning money from it, plan to apply for the exemption before the end of the year. The way I understand it, they backdate your exemption to the start of the year you apply. I submitted my application in December, and my exemption applies to income from January of that same year.

I hope that’s of some help.