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Part of Product photography agency vs freelancer: a UK VAT quote example
Product photography agency vs freelancer: a UK VAT quote example
Compare a UK product photography agency and freelancer with a worked VAT quote example, invoice checks and questions about shoot scope and insurance.
Compare proposals for the same product shoot
Compare the agency and freelancer against the same product shoot, then separate their confirmed tax positions from their proposed work. Ask each to quote for the same products, image treatments and deliverables. Keep any difference in scope visible before treating the final totals as comparable.
For the agency, request the contracting name and the proposed production team. For the freelancer, request the contracting name and clarify any assistants or outside retouching. Use your planned team roles to ask who will handle products, approve compositions, retouch images and deliver the finished files.
VAT registration changes the comparison
Contrast a VAT-registered agency with an unregistered freelancer only if those are their confirmed positions. In that case, the agency can charge VAT and the freelancer cannot. Reverse the comparison if the freelancer is registered and the agency is not. Do not assign VAT status from the label.
A business must register if its total taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if it expects its taxable turnover to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days. A business with turnover below £90,000 can also choose to register, so a small freelancer is not automatically unregistered.
GOV.UK's charging VAT guidance says a business must register for VAT to start charging VAT, and VAT invoices must include the supplier's VAT number and show VAT separately. Ask for the relevant invoice details rather than relying on a total marked 'including tax'.
The standard rate is 20 per cent and usually applies to most goods and services. Keep the supplier's stated rate beside its product photography quote. Ask for the amount before VAT, the VAT amount and the final total, without letting tax treatment obscure differences in the proposed photography work.
Worked example: the same net quote
Illustrative example: compare a VAT-registered agency and an unregistered freelancer using the same £60 base amount. This is a calculation assumption, not a photography rate. At 20 per cent, £60 × 20% = £12 VAT; £60 + £12 = £72 including VAT.
| Illustrative supplier position | Amount before VAT | VAT added | Total payable |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT-registered agency | £60 | £12 | £72 |
| Unregistered freelancer | £60 | Not charged | £60 |
If the freelancer is VAT-registered and the agency is not, reverse the rows: the illustrative total becomes £72 for the freelancer and £60 for the agency. Record the confirmed tax treatment with the commercial contracts review, alongside agreed deliverables and any changes to the quoted scope.
Match insurance evidence to the shoot
Ask the agency which entity employs the people proposed for the shoot. Ask the freelancer whether anyone involved is employed by their business. Keep the replies with the proposal, and use your product photography insurance checks to request evidence relevant to those arrangements.
The Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 ensures at least a minimum level of cover against employee injury or disease claims arising out of employment. Most employers must insure against that liability. Ask the supplier how its employment arrangements relate to the evidence being offered.
An employers' liability policy must be with an authorised insurer, whose authorisation can be checked on the Financial Conduct Authority register. Match the policy evidence to the employing entity. Keep questions about customers, visitors or product damage separate, rather than treating that policy as an answer to every shoot risk.
Public liability insurance is not required by health and safety law. Ask about it separately from employers' liability and request cover details for the planned shoot. Keep questions about visiting staff and the handling of products explicit, without assuming that every kind of damage is covered.
Clarify an intermediary booking before approval
If an agency proposal involves a freelancer's limited company, ask who would be the client, who would pay that company and which agreement describes the engagement. For a direct freelancer proposal, clarify the same roles. Keep those answers in your vendor due diligence record rather than inferring them from branding.
HMRC's IR35 contractor flowchart leaves the decision about whether off-payroll working rules apply with the contractor's limited company or other intermediary when the client is small and outside the public sector. Ask whether that describes the proposed engagement before using this responsibility allocation in your booking assessment.
If a contract is inside the off-payroll working rules, the party paying the intermediary deducts Income Tax and Employee National Insurance Contributions. It is also responsible for Employer National Insurance Contributions and apprenticeship levy, if relevant. Ask which party would perform those deductions before confirming the payment arrangements.
Keep deliverables beside the final totals
Make the booking decision with both proposals open against the same brief. Use a supplier comparison to record what each agency or freelancer has actually offered. Keep tax, staffing and payment questions alongside the photography scope, rather than letting administrative answers replace the assessment of the images you need.
- Confirm the contracting name and who will invoice you.
- Record VAT registration status, the quoted VAT treatment and relevant invoice details.
- Match products, image treatments, retouching and delivery requirements across both proposals.
- Identify who will photograph, assist, retouch and approve the work.
- Match insurance evidence to the entity and proposed working arrangements.
- Clarify the client, intermediary and payer where a contractor's company is involved.
Prefer the proposal whose agreed scope and supporting answers fit your shoot, not simply the lower headline amount. Mark unresolved points and request written clarification before booking. If either supplier changes the team, contracting entity or deliverables, update the comparison and ask whether the earlier answers still apply.
