As a photographer, are you collecting sales tax?
Probably not, right?
In the state of Washington, digital photographs are treated the same as tangible, physical photographs — even if they’re transferred and sold electronically.
This means that each photograph taken for a client is subject to retail B&O and sales tax. Photographers are responsible for collecting and reporting such tax.
In contrast, the service you’re providing — actually taking the photos — is not subject to taxation. You only need to collect tax for each photo you provide.
To do so, you must determine the cost of each photo, and then collect tax based on each photo sent to a client or customer.
If, for example, a photoshoot costs $250 and you price each photo at $5, you would collect taxes for each $5 photo.
The cost of digital goods should be displayed as a separate line item on an invoice, with the next line showing the amount of sales tax being charged based on the cost of digital goods, i.e. not the actual photoshoot (which is deemed a service, not goods).
Consult a CPA or financial professional for help determining the percent of sales tax you should be collecting.
