Regarding :Thunderbird Artists, Inc. series of craft shows in the
Scottsdale/Phoenix area. They are the Carefree Fine Art and Wine
Festival, the Scottsdale Fine Art & Chocolate Festival, and the
Village at Hayden Fine Art Walk.
These shows are fine, and generally draw a decently affluent
audience. The problem with shows in Arizona is their bizarre tax
system.
If you sell in Arizona, you have a regular sales tax license -
and must file a monthly report. They don’t have anything such as a
Special Event License, and the promoters do not collect tax from you
and pay the state to avoid dealing with the state.
Some of these shows are on Indian reservations, which is another
much more casual tax collecting agency.
If you call the state tax office, they give you all kinds of
incorrect and on the initial “welcome” to the office,
they tell you that they are not responsible for what they say.
Calling the tax office is a problem in itself. The form sent to
you has an 800 telephone number on it, but the number only works in
Arizona. There is no listing for the tax authority. So if you are
from another state, good luck trying to deal with them.
Summary - the shows are fine. The state tax stuff is so ugly I won’t
do shows there again.
Judy, There are quite a few sellers at Quartzsite that have horror
stories of their own. The bureau of Weights and Management
disallowed most scales used there causing a run on "approved"
scales. Shut quite a few down unceremoniously.
1. If you sell in Arizona, you have a regular sales tax license -
and must file a monthly report. They don't have anything such as
a Special Event License, and the promoters do not collect tax from
you and pay the state to avoid dealing with the state. "
Actually, I got them to let me file on a yearly basis. I explained
to them that I only do two shows there a year and that it was a real
pain to send in monthly tax forms (especially when the never provide
an envelope - one more thing for the list of AZ problems). All I had
to do was ask and they moved me to annual status.
I have to agree with Judy though. If it weren’t for the annual show
in Quartzsite, I’d never do business in Arizona. The taxes are too
high and the requirements are too stringent. It’s much easier to do
business at shows in Nevada. You fill out a temporary tax form, give
the show promoter a check for the tax amount due (made out to the
State of course) and you’re all done.
Sincerely,
Nancy Stinnett, Owner
Geosoul Arts www.geosoul.com
(702) 436-7685
For those of you who think that Arizona is tough on the scale issue
be aware that miscalibrated, bad scales, cheating on scale readouts
has been quite prevalent in ours and many other industries… Other
states have started to put more stringent requirements on approved
scales ( Minnesota did this about 6 years ago)because of these
problems (i.e.) why do you think gas stations get checked
frequently?). If you’re in this industry you should be aware of these
problems. Arizona gets a lot of press because of the heavy volume of
gem & jewelry shows here in the winter.