How we set up a New Cross artist collective's finances correctly
Client M is part of a New Cross artist collective that had started earning meaningful income from exhibitions, commissions, workshops and a small grant, but the members had no idea how to handle the tax, whether they were a partnership, who declared what, or how to treat the grant, and none had registered for self-assessment.
We sorted out the structure. We clarified that the collective operated as individuals sharing costs rather than a formal partnership, registered each active member for self-assessment, set up simple shared bookkeeping to split costs and income fairly, advised that the arts grant was taxable trading income, and made sure each member claimed their share of materials, studio and exhibition costs. We kept it simple and appropriate to their scale.