Bookkeeping for freelance photographers and videographers

VAT on your work: almost always 21 per cent

Carrying out a photo shoot or video production is a service at the standard 21% rate. That also covers the usage rights you supply with it: a licence on your photos is not a separate item at a lower rate. In photography the reduced 9% rate comes into play in only one situation, and then it concerns an artwork rather than a service.

That one situation is the art photo: a photo you took yourself, printed by you or under your supervision, numbered and signed, in an edition of at most thirty prints. Such a photo is an artwork and is supplied at 9%. That edition of thirty counts across all sizes and materials combined. Everything else, from a wedding reportage to a corporate video and from editing to usage rights, is 21%. Do still describe the rights concretely in your quote, because that is what discussions with clients turn on, even though it does not change your rate.

Depreciating equipment and the investment deduction

Cameras, lenses, drones, lighting and editing computers are business assets. If a purchase costs more than 450 euros excluding VAT, in practice you put it on the balance sheet and depreciate it over five years, taking a residual value into account. That 450 euros is not a statutory limit but the floor per asset for the investment deduction; many entrepreneurs use it for capitalising too. Cheaper purchases, such as a memory card or tripod, are deducted immediately as costs.

If you invest more than 2,900 euros in business assets in a calendar year, you are usually entitled to the small-scale investment deduction: an extra deduction on top of your depreciation. For photographers and videographers, who often buy a body plus lenses in a single year, that threshold is quickly reached. So plan large purchases smartly: two investments in the same year sometimes yield more deduction than spreading them over two years.

Travel costs, locations and working remotely

You drive to shoots, locations and clients. If you use your private car for business, you record 0.25 euros per business kilometre as costs in 2026. Keep a mileage log with date, destination and kilometres driven. Public transport is fully deductible on top of that; with a private car, parking and tolls are already inside that 0.25 euros, so you do not record them separately.

If you rent a studio, the rent and the VAT on it are business costs. If you do your editing from home, your home workspace is only deductible in exceptional cases, but your equipment, software and internet costs in proportion to business use are.

Software subscriptions and foreign clients

Subscriptions to editing software and cloud storage often come from foreign suppliers. If you buy software from an EU supplier as a business, the VAT is reverse-charged to you: you declare it in your VAT return and deduct it again in the same return. Do make sure your VAT number is registered with the supplier, otherwise you wrongly pay foreign or Dutch VAT that you cannot simply reclaim.

If you supply business clients in the EU yourself, you reverse-charge the VAT to your client and state this on the invoice. For clients outside the EU, the zero rate usually applies or the service is taxed in the client's country. For international assignments it pays to check this in advance, so your invoice is right the first time.

Fluctuating income: build a buffer

Photography and video are seasonal: weddings in summer, campaigns towards the end of the year, quiet months in between. So set aside a fixed percentage of every paid invoice immediately for income tax and VAT. That way a good summer is not followed by a painful tax bill in spring.

Frequently asked questions