I was advised to pursue art only as hobby, and as it turns
out for legal purposes that can actually be very good advise even if you'd like to make a full
time living out of it. Advice I most certainly would not be the least bit interested in taking
if it weren't for the fact that there are tax advantages when something you are doing is legally
considered a business there are also a lot of hassles and hoops to jump through.
For example if a person is living in a area not zoned for a home business...or worse they are
stuck renting and regardless of zoning the lease prohibits doing commercial activity from
within your so called residence (by the way people are free to disagree with me but I think
anyone who doesn't own and live in a single family house and hold title to the land under it
exclusive from everyone who doesn't live in that house should be treated like they legally
have no residential address) regardless of the zoning.
If it's a business that means either forget it, or rent an office/studio/whatever business
space you need somewhere else. Talk about a massive expense. For most
art forms there's no problem if it's a hobby. There
might be some things involving the use of fire with metal or glass or something, or just
simply enough of a mess and large enough equipment it have been worth the second location
anyway. However I don't know how much that would change the location you would be using.
Of course the hobbyist also doesn't have to get a business license to do or sell their
artwork no matter what the laws are of the area
around them. Nor do they need any other kind of licensing that people who do commercial
work. I don't know what the example would be in the case of an artist, but somehow I'll
be pleasantly surprised if there isn't someone who can point to an example now or ever.
Another advantage, any time you admit you are doing anything for commercial purposes somehow
the cost of everything increases, and for anyone who's not seeing the added benefit beyond
being able to say it's for business (there is no doubt a reason, and the hobbyist does give
up any advantages that go with it) the end result is that it feels a little like just because
you had to check a different box, or click a different button the cost went up. The up side
for the hobbyist you get the being able to check/click the box/button saying �personal� rather than
the one saying �business� and pay the lower price for whatever the good or service is.
While I'm not saying to do artwork only as a hobby (in
legal terms or otherwise) because what any artist should consider when making their career
choices. Obviously there are tax advantages and other legal reasons it can be better for
your artwork if at all possible to be a business rather
than a hobby not only morally but legally (at least there were when I wrote this) and anyone who
wants to make a living as an artist would be well advise to find out what the most advantageous
course of action is for them and their career. What I am saying that before the people who are
looking to make a living as an artist they might want to do some more research on the question
of how they go about pursuing their dreams and keep in mind that the person who said to do
your artwork only as a hobby might have meant something
very different but may very well been giving you shockingly good legal advice.
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