Hi, so I shoot sporting events mainly MLS games. However, I am not being paid for it. It’s more of a get you foot in the door type thing
So if I travel let’s say 6-7 hours and spend the night at an hotel. Can I write those things off?
I do other paid photography events like weddings etc.
It is legit if you are running an overall profit and really trying to get your start in sports. $5k in wedding profits offset by $500 in sport portfolio expenses will work out, but $5k in sports travel offset by a $500 wedding is a hobby.
I give myself 2 budgets. First is a number of days each year that I’ll shoot stuff I want to learn or make connections in that area. I hope to get some sort of $ out of it, but don’t expect pay that is remotely close to my corporate work.
Second is actual money I’m willing to lose on those shoots. This is a small percentage of my profits for the year. That money can equal travel for those shoots or specialized gear I don’t otherwise need.
It’s my understanding that you can but I’m no accountant.
You can deduct your travel mileage but not travel time. You can deduct hotel costs.
I find that what pays off more is shooting closer to home, making solid connections with people who are likely to call you back for such events. Later once you’ve built your network you can focus your attention to shooting MLS, hopefully as a paid work.
I get that shooting MLS is fun. I shot the top tier league in my country as well. Difference is I was being paid and shooting every home game near me. The other shooters were selling their images through an agency.
You really ought to work out what your business plan is or switch to lower impact shooting such as working directly with a local team and covering home games.
It’s your time of course and you can do what you want, but that amount of time for no income is poor from a business perspective and if you’re claiming on tax we’re talking business.
Thank you that is solid advice.
Working with your local team can open up a lot of opportunities as well if you get your foot in the door. I never exploited all of them because I worked for the club and had to set professional boundaries. However clubs need a lot of photographs both match-day and promotional, they have community events, gala dinners, and the team is full of cashed up young men who are getting married, having kids etc.
It can be an effective network depending on what you want to shoot.
I second talking to an accountant.
If you were a business, then you can definitely write off those expenses. Since you’re not making any money doing it then I’m not sure you can. A lot of tax benefits are reserved for actual businesses and are worded to limit hobby-businesses (essentially people pretending they have a business so they can deduct their hobby related expenses)
It sounds to me like you’re building a portfolio and making contacts in order to develop a future line of business. If so, then yes it’s deductible from other lines of business. Is it good business to travel all of that way? That’s for you to decide, but as long as the expenses are reasonable the IRS won’t question them. You are expected to show an overall profit eventually. (This is what my CPA told me.)
You’re asking a tax question in a photography sub. Please, talk to a professional, or at least randoms that specialize in tax nerd stuff
By the answers it seems it can be possible so now I’m going to go talk to an accountant to be ready for next year.
I just wanted an idea if it was possible from other photographers experience
It all depends if you’re set up as a business or not. Your last sentence regarding shooting weddings is kind of vague.
You would need to talk to an accountant to get any real advice, but I would imagine they would first ask how you’re currently conducting your photography.
Whether you sell your MLS pictures or not, if you were a legitimate business you could absolutely deduct certain expenses related to that. Working photographers shoot personal work all the time and if it’s in support of their business then there is a path for a write-off (in some capacity.)
Pro-tip: just because you aren’t selling these MLS pictures now, doesn’t mean you can’t sell them later.
This is correct. If you’re doing business as a photographer, just put your allowable and documented MLS photography expenses on your Schedule C (assuming a flow-through LLC or Sole Proprietorship business structure) just like you do with your wedding photo expenses and income.
You don’t have to be turning a profit to deduct business expenses.
You do have to be trying to make a profit in the business.
You do not have to be any good at the job you’re doing.
You don’t have to be any good at running a business.
You do have to follow the law.
You do not have to follow the laws people on Reddit made up in their heads.
I saw a very well-known actor give a panel. He said always get paid. Even if it’s minimal. I would agree. Just for self-respect, negotiate a payment. Then, you can justify writing off business expenses. If you’re not paid, you have no business, therefore cannot write anything off.
I’d ask for compensation of those things.