Family matters

[SnappingShark]

As a professional photographer, would you charge your spouse for a photoshoot taken for their business? You're a spouse helping out.

How about your extended family?

Curious on thoughts and responses.

 

[tirediron]

Would I? Spouse, probably not. Family, well, that depends on how extended. The correct answer however is "Yes" at least for business to business work.

 

[unpopular]

I'd charge my spouse. I'd insist that she pay in cash and I'd deposit it back into our mutual account immediately.

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Seriously. No. Don't charge your spouse. Even if you have separate business accounts. Whatever your spouse does you mutually benefit from as a family unit. Even if money matters are totally separate, his or her success will absolutely benefit you as well. I understand why a could would keep money "their own" my wife and I did for many years until it just wasn't very practical. But I also knew that her success dictated my own, and mine dictates hers. Furthermore my vows to her kind of state an obligation to support her endeavors.

Extended family doesn't really share this obligation and mutuality. I think in this case it really depends on your relationship with them. I'd probably help my brother out, but not so much my sister due to that he's a teenager while my sister is a married adult with a good income. I'd probably help my parents, because they raised me, but I wouldn't be so inclined to help my grandparents, because, well, they didn't. I probably wouldn't help my uncle, because he very much has an established business of his own.

So it really just depends.

 

[rlemert]

I don't think we can give you a blanket answer because there are a lot of legitimate business reasons for charging for your services. She might, for instance, be working on a project that requires her to document her costs at current market rates.

You probably want to sit down with her to discuss whether or not it makes sense - and you might even consider bringing your accountants into the discussion.

 

[dennybeall]

From a business standpoint, hers and yours, you always want to charge her. How much and if you actually have money change hands is something to decide at the time.

 

[unpopular]

From a business standpoint is the only legitimate reason. OTOH I am pretty sure that writing off expenses charged by your spouse is going to be pretty dicey waters and could definitely start looking like fraud if you're not careful.

I second the accountant if this is your motivation.

If your motivation is that "nobody gets free services" though, I wholly disagree unless your spouse has a similar viewpoint.

My wife probably wouldn't be too thrilled by this.

 

[table1349]

As a professional photographer, would you charge your spouse for a photoshoot taken for their business? You're a spouse helping out.

How about your extended family?

Curious on thoughts and responses.

I think the operative word in this whole thing is "their" business. Whom is "their?". If it is your wife's business, i.e. she is the owner, then no. If it is for the business she works for then yes. Possibly at a reduced rate, but yes.

 

[rlemert]

From a business standpoint is the only legitimate reason. OTOH I am pretty sure that writing off expenses charged by your spouse is going to be pretty dicey waters and could definitely start looking like fraud if you're not careful.

If she's writing this off as a business expense, you'd better have it listed as business income in your books. This is probably the only way you can even hope of passing the muster of the IRS. Even then, for it to make sense her business' tax bracket needs to be higher than yours.

 

[robbins.photo]

As a professional photographer, would you charge your spouse for a photoshoot taken for their business? You're a spouse helping out.

How about your extended family?

Curious on thoughts and responses.

Absolutely, are you kidding!

Wait... you think maybe that might be why I'm divorced?

 

[gsgary]

Yes I would because it would be tax deductible

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