Oh no! It will soon be time to file my tax report 12'13

 "It's not fair", my young friend cried, "I'm an artist, not a CPA."

While I didn't  dissolve into tears, I must admit I felt a distinct knot in the pit of my stomach this morning when I realized that within a week I will need to be filing my taxes.

... No not with the IRS ---that is coming up too...

But first in line is the State of South Carolina's Department of Revenue. 

 Like many states, South Carolina charges a sales tax on items businesses sell .

Fair or not, it is the law of the land that  artwork sold is taxable and yes  even artists are  responsible to ensure our sales are meeting the tax requirements.

This year I only sold my work through  three galleries, two of which collected the excise tax, and two did not (non-profits).  It's this time of year that makes me glad that Corporate America taught me to appreciate being disciplined  and systematic about record keeping .  A quick print-out of a Quickbook Tax  Report which showed not only the product sales income by gallery, but the sales tax which had been paid ( or not) at each.  Plug this into the South Carolina Dept. of Revenue Form and I have a tentative draft of the excise taxes I  own for 2013.  All I have to do is wait until the year is officially over to make sure there have been no new sales to be added, and I will be ready to file.

Quick books makes it so simple, that I regret every time I rolled by eyes in boredom while doing the record keeping.