Legal Requirements Needed To Start As A Fashion Photographer In Los Angeles
July 1st, 2010Recently I was asked what legal documents are required to start your fashion photography business in Los Angeles. There are a couple things to ask yourself. If you are working out of your house then you actually don’t need any documents. You don’t need a business license but if you are not using your name as your business name then you will need a DBA also known as Doing Business As. For instance, my business is called Jason Christopher Photography. I don’t need a DBA. If I want to call my business something like Sharpshooter or Mainline Photography or whatever, just something other than your name, then yes you need a DBA. When I first started I called LA city Hall and they said I do not need a business license. Now if I had a storefront I would think that I would need one. The best thing to do is call your local city hall and find out for sure.
What you ABSOLUTELY NEED is photography insurance that covers your gear, rental gear and liability. That is a must have.
Other than that you just need a camera … ha ha
July 1st, 2010 at 10:54 pm
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July 3rd, 2010 at 11:32 am
Thanks for the information. You don’t know how long I’ve tried to find out this bit of the puzzle
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Scott you’re very welcome. Someone did email me about having to get a business tax license but I have never heard of that. I am going to look into that. Be sure to click Subscribe to my blog updates to stay updated. It’s to the right in the link section.
Thank you Scott !
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July 6th, 2010 at 4:28 am
So if you use your name as your business & work at home you don’t need a business license.. Then how does the city collect income tax??.. very interesting
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 9th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Hi Greg,
Filing your income tax has nothing to do with having a business license or working from home. I file every year. Also, every city and or county has their own laws about business license’s.
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July 18th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I presume the Ha ha at the end of your post was a little tongue in cheek, you can have all the licenses you could possibly get but to call your self a pro and be able to sleep at night you need some god given talent which is surely THE most important of all licenses….
great blog articles as ever though….
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi Karl,
The HA HA at the end of my post was just me being silly in saying “And don’t forget your camera too.” However, you are correct when you say that you do need God given talent, the most important factor to the craft.
Thank you for the compliment on my blog Karl.
Cheers !
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January 27th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I enjoyed reading your nice blog. I see you offer priceless info. Stumbled into this blog by chance but I’m sure glad I clicked on that link. You definitely answered all the questions I’ve been dying to answer for some time now. Will definitely come back for more of this.
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