The Business Blog

It’s a dream shared by many around the world - turning a hobby into a business; actually making money from doing what they love. It’s what journalists and authors do when they write. It’s what mechanics do when they tinker on motors and get paid for it. It’s what artists do when they draw, sculpt, or paint.

Maybe you’re one of those people who have discovered that your hobby is expensive to maintain, and you’d like a way simply for your hobby to ‘pay for itself’. That’s the case of a man I know who loves flying his airplane, looking at all different types of airplanes, and talking about airplanes (this man has miniature airplanes on his “second” Christmas tree). After retiring from his “real” job, he merged his work with his hobby, and now he gets paid to manage the airport where he keeps his plane. Many businesses and careers have been started for that reason.

More…Business savvy individuals and tax attorneys may share with you a semi-guarded trade secret: You can deduct hobby losses from your main income if you can prove the hobby is a legitimate, profit-motivated business. That means you must be engaged in the activity “for profit.” If you want to go that route, you will need to set your hobby up as a legitimate business with: business cards, a separate set of books, a separate business bank account, advertising, business cards, etc.

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