Traveling OUT of Wisconsin: If your business is located in Wisconsin, but you are traveling to shoot in another state, please review the sales tax requirements of that state.
Traveling INTO Wisconsin: If you are from another state and are traveling into Wisconsin to shoot, please follow the questions below to determine if you need to charge sales tax in Wisconsin.
When it comes to sales tax, you need to ask yourself three questions. We will walk you through those questions below:
If your business is located in Wisconsin and you are shooting in Wisconsin, you have nexus in Wisconsin.
If you are traveling from out of state to shoot in Wisconsin, and your client receives their photos from you in Wisconsin, you have nexus in Wisconsin. (see Traveling to Shoot in Wisconsin? section below for when you need to register for sales tax)
Everything is taxable if your business is located in Wisconsin and the photos are received by your customer in Wisconsin. The following items address tax where everything is happening in Wisconsin. If you have an out-of-state client, see the orange section below that talks about out-of-state clients.
This specifically refers to digital photos transferred digitally over the internet. Please note any digital images transferred via physical devices like USB drives, CDs, etc., are taxed as physical goods, and all physical goods are taxable.
Digital photographs fall under “Finished Artwork,” defined as taxable digital goods. (Section 77.51(1a), Wis. Stats.)
This covers anything physical you can touch, such as physical prints, albums, etc.