Tuesday 17 May 2011

The taxes and photoshoots...

Having fired my accountant, it took me a scary month to get myself onto that high horse - but I did do it. Here's what you do, if it just so happens you have the least income-y business ever and still pay pretty penny to have it managed: I was told it takes a lot of money and permits, but it doesn't. It doesn't cost anything. You DON'T need a pro on-line account that costs a load, you DON'T need to get the e-signature at places that charge, because one works for all high-roller accounts and you can get it for free at, say, Tax office. Then you file for authorization statement, cancelling others and naming yourself as your own book-keeper. Then you find a computer genius, or the closest thing, and load the damn e-signature certificate onto your comp. That bit may take a while. say, three or five weeks. Well, okay, only two days, if you do it right the first time and there are no holidays in the meanwhile, but my lesson took longer. But THEN, when you DO have the e-signature loaded and you DO manage to log into the taxes site, you have to find the right form (there are pages that guide you through the first time, so it's real easy by comparison) and into that firm, you type in two numbers. TWO. The hours and another, not sure what it is. And then the site automatically calculates all your monthly tax thingies and that's it. TWO numbers. My accountant had to put TWO numbers into a table and press 'confirm' and then charged me for three hours of work. That alone pissed me off enough to throw myself off the safety ledge and take the reins myself. Once I've learned, I think there shouldn't be anything to it for another year.
          Meanwhile I went to bum for a shooting site and actually got it. Yeesh. That was weird, as for once in my life the man knew nothing about me - I dropped zero names, including my own, and almost no smiles. Hah! He told me he is inclined to say no from bad experience - and I just dropped my photos. It did the trick. Hello. :D Now, if all goes well (I hate planning but also I love it for the challenge and experience.) we have a gala shot scheduled in the museum. Ai!

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