Aces
patreon
[IMPORTANT] What to do with excess funds?
🕑 Added 2021-05-07 18:47:08 +0000 UTCSo this is something that needs to be discussed. I was talking to the guy who does my taxes and it's important because this year I'm paying about $1200 in taxes on Patreon stuff because we got quite a bit more money this year than I could spend on the comic. Hypothetically, next year it could be the opposite. I might spend more on the comic than I earn through Patreon.
The question I have then is what do I do with excess funds?
Someday in the future, years from now, the comic will be finished. Ideally, I'll have made no profit, but this is becoming increasingly unlikely because I can't burn money fast enough to pull that off. This is great during the development of the comic because it provides a big fat buffer for if funds ever drop off severely. However, it creates a problem for me tax-wise. Am I earning profits? Or am I just a middle man?
So I ask you, the people actually paying for this, what should I do with that money when the series is finally done?
If I keep the money for myself, it's a lot more simple. To be fair, Guts and Glory 2 especially could be treated as a for-profit thing that entitles me to some arbitrary cut of the money. It also takes a lot of hard work to convert the stories into comic format, and it involves a great deal of time and rewrites. However, there is a possibility that I may end up with thousands of dollars excess and I don't want anyone to feel like I was ever holding out on them because that's simply not the case.
If I do not keep the money for myself, it's a lot more complicated. It might save me thousands in taxes, but then I have an obligation to do something with every penny of that profit of which I also have to keep track of much more closely from here on out. Even then, it's no guarantee I'll be able to spend every last penny on the comic. What then? Do I refund some of the money? Okay, who am I supposed to refund it to? There's so many of you now. Do I donate the money to charity? Which charity? Am I going to upset some of you by sending your money to a charity you don't like? Inevitably there's going to be money left over, or I'm going to end up spending out of pocket anyway.
Personally, I think the smartest move just to keep my ass covered from any problems is to treat the money as profits and losses instead of treating myself like a middle man. I don't care about the taxes I end up paying. I just don't want anyone to feel like they got ripped off.
Let me be clear that I am not spending Patreon profits on my own personal expenses at this time, but rather this is important because it's about what I will do when Issue 100 is finished, and I have nothing left to spend the extra on but myself.
Comments
Aces
Final results as of 5/16/2021. 24 in favor of me keeping the money, 2 who want it spent directly on the patrons. This heavily simplifies things, and I appreciate everyone's feedback.
Aces
This poll will end on May 15th 2021.
