Updated: Help pass self-employed tax savings bill

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) urges all members, photographers and small business owners to ask their U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives to support The Equity for Our Nation’s Self-Employed Act (S. 2239/H.R. 3660). Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have co-sponsored S. 2239 in the Senate, while H.R. 3660 is co-sponsored by Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI 3rd) and Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA 2nd).

Self-employed individuals, including self-employed photographers, pay for health insurance costs with after-payroll tax dollars.  This means that the money they use to buy health insurance for themselves and their families is subject to an additional 15.3 percent tax that no other employers or employees must pay. 

All business entities other than sole-proprietors receive a deduction for health insurance premiums as an ordinary and necessary business expense for all employees, including owners.  Employees and the owner pay for their health insurance premiums pre-tax; therefore, they are not subject to FICA taxes. However, sole-proprietors (Schedule C filers) do not receive this benefit. Their premiums are not paid with pre-tax dollars and are exposed to self-employment tax. Again, sole proprietors are the only business entity that does not receive a full deduction of health care costs. 

Health insurance premiums average almost $12,000 per year for family coverage.  It is estimated that S.2239 and HR 3660 will save every self-employed individual about $1700 annually.

As you can see, both S. 2239 and HR 3660 are important pieces of legislation and represent a step in the right direction to lower the already high tax burden carried by small businesses and the self-employed.  We encourage all photographers (regardless of PPA membership), their employees and other small business owners to contact their Congressional Representatives, by visiting the Contact Congress page.  Although we have provided an "as is" sample e-mail, we strongly encourage you to personalize your message if at all possible; we know from our visits to the Hill that personal messages carry extra weight.

For more information on this important piece of legislation visit, www.setaxequity.org. If you have specific questions about this legislation, feel free to contact the PPA Government Affairs Department at mmatthews@ppa.com.

Have You Logged On to PhotographerRegistry.com?

The Photographer Registry, www.photographerregistry.com, is an online photographer database maintained as a free service (for photographers as well as consumers) by Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Alliance for Visual Artist (AVA), working closely with other photographic associations, such as American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Editorial Photographers (EP) and Photo Marketing Association International (PMA).  This service was launched on October 11, 2007 at the Copyright Exponential in Washington, DC.

Rather than focusing on the photo, the Photographer Registry focuses on the photographer. With it, photographers can keep their contact information current, choose what information to display, and identify their heirs specifying how reproduction requests can be handled. This is helpful because a consumer often only remembers where a photo was done, or the old address or phone number of the photographer. But all too often, the photographer might have closed their business, moved, or be deceased.

The goal of this service is to reduce copyright infringement of photographic works by making it easy for photographers to be found and contacted for permission. An added purpose of the Photographer Registry is to help retailers defend photographer copyrights. By making it easer to find a copyright owner we are helping retailers deal with overbearing customers.

You can take advantage of the Photographer’s Registry in two simple steps:

- Go to www.photographerregistry.com and create an account. It’s free.

- Customize and update your information before activating the account.

  (If you’re a PPA member your information may have been loaded for you, but

  you need to update it to activate your account.)

To search the Registry, visit the website and enter one or more of the search criteria. Remember, whether you are creating an account or searching the registry it is done at no cost to you!

New Resources for Copyright Creators and Users Alike

On September 13, Columbia Law School launched www.keepyourcopyrights.org/ as a way to help creators, like photographers, navigate copyright law. Ultimately, the site hopes to enable creators to proactively control their copyrights and learn to integrate copyright management into their business practices.

The site includes information on how to protect, manage and enforce your copyright under U.S. law. Two unique features of this website are a glossary of terms and an overview of copyright related contracts. Remember, although managed by Columbia Law School, the site is purely informational and should not be considered legal advice as every situation is unique.

Also released in September are workbooks and activities aimed at the next generation of creators and copyright users. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) asks children as young as kindergarten to “Join the Copyright Team!” by engaging them in creative projects and educational activities. The group has also created materials geared at educating parents and teachers alike.

A similar workbook entitled “The Arts and Copyright” was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization as the next installment in a series of free publications. The Learn from the Past, Create the Future series is aimed at educating 9 to 14 years olds in intellectual property. Similar to the program launched by ESA The Arts and Copyright uses a series of educational activities and creative projects to educate young people on the dos and don’ts of intellectual property law.