Royalty income and retirement ....

[Duckduckgoose]

I'm a retired NBA contract photographer and still receive royalties from the licensing of photos I made during that time. The NBA owns the copyrights.

Under the circumstances do I need to continue to file a schedule C?   If I'm only getting royalty payments in retirement?

[rjs]

Yes, the royalties that you are getting are still income from your photography business, even though you are not creating any new photos and no longer have any business expenses. You have to continue to report the royalties as business income on Schedule C.

[Duckduckgoose]

So since I will be perpetually "self employed" can I continue to deduct expenses, contribute to a SEP etc.? Though I'm retired I do some side photography jobs occasionally probably less than 20k annually. Thank you!

[rjs · Accepted solution]

So you are not "only getting royalty payments in retirement." What you call occasional side jobs is an active business with a significant amount of income. You have to continue to report it as business income on Schedule C. You probably don't have any expenses to collect the royalties, but you probably do have expenses for the side jobs, and of course you can deduct those expenses on Schedule C. Include the royalties in the income on Schedule C.

You can continue to contribute to a SEP as long as you have net self-employment income. Note that if you are 73 or older you must take RMDs from your SEP IRA.