Minor wanting to start a business help please!!

lifedeclutter

Hi My son (10) loves his camera and would like to start selling images on microstock sites. My heart says well done him, the head says help!!!!

Do we need to start up a business for him to do this, or does what little he is likely to earn require it. (@ 20p/20credits per image royalties it can take months/years to earn the minimum credits to get paid his first payment). If we don't need to set up a business before he starts at what point would it be required. We are aware of what images he can and cant use (for legalities), these would always be monitored by me.

Please can you advise us as I would not want to fall foul of the law/tax man. (he has no other source of income other than his pocket money)

Thanks in advance

Suarez

This has got to be a joke surely?

danthemoneysavingman

if it's not a joke, then same income tax rules apply. doesn't need a business. if earns more than lower tax threshold then should pay 20% tax on anything above - if that's your question.

lifedeclutter

Hi thanks for you support, No this is not a joke. I'm unwell We have 3 kids, my husband is facing redundancy and my son wants to go on his school trip that we can't afford, let alone he needs a passport. We are selling everything possible on ebay, gumtree, amazon, local papers, by word of mouth.

He is gifted both at school and in his photography, he might bum out in the real world, he might earn enough to go on the trip.

Genuine help IS needed.

podperson

I think it's great that he's starting to think like that at such a young age but if he's wanting money for something in the relative short term (like his school trip) I don't know if stock sites would be the way to go. They do basically pay peanuts and will take a long time before he would even get enough to cash out. What kind of photos does he take and people may be able to suggest other routes for him? There was a very long thread on making money from photography a while ago, if you do a forum search should bring it up.

lifedeclutter

Thank you I will check out that thread.

He takes images of objects around the house he sets up, lego, toys, fruit, family often its random. He fiddles until hes happy how things look.

petabear

hey lifedeclutter
I'm not sure if this could be of any help but I sell things on fivesquids.co.uk maybe he could sell his photos on there? you can sell relatively anything on there in the way of services ect. for 5 pounds maybe if you put that he wants to earn enough to go on a school trip it will interest people more?
Sorry I can't be more help I wish you all the luck with this!
Petabear

InsideInsurance

You will need to check the T&Cs of the stock websites, I suspect you will find that they require you to be 18 to have an account.

Naturally you could lie about ages or alternatively put the account in one of your names. If you do that technically you should register as self employed for the purposes of the income it will generate and complete an annual tax return etc.

Some would argue for sums that are likely to be pennies it isnt worth registering, especially with the hassle self employment can create when considering benefits, non-CRA based credit etc, and that the risk of being caught is low.

lifedeclutter

Thank you, I have looked into some of the companies, it was not clear, I have contacted 2 agencies to see what is required/possible.

I would not feel comfortable doing it in my name, it would also not quite be under the radar. (the american firms require IRS forms even for non US sellers) It would be good experience for him.

As for the 5squid thing I had a look, I appreciate the thought but its not quiet what I had in mind.

podperson

I agree it's good experience for him but I don't know whether I would bother registering him straight away as it could take him months just to make a few pounds (sad but true on most of those sites, there is a lot of competition and it can take months for anyone to even start noticing your work, no matter how good it might be). Officially he would need to be registered as self-employed, he gets a tax allowance the same as everyone else so highly unlikely he would go over that and have to pay anything and he would be exempt from Class 2 NI contributions as he's under 16.
Also, I'm sure you have looked into this already but does he have a decent camera? A lot of the sites have quality restrictions on the images they will take, the better paying sites tending to specific higher min sizes.

lifedeclutter

This is where he would floor me with stats, he has a nikon with things I don't understand and tripod. It's over the current required specs.

Thank you and thank you everyone, I shall look into the processes of him becoming self employed, and discuss with him the options available to him.