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An engineer working at a studio, wouldn't s/he be able to recalim outlay for WUP, by citing this rule in UK?

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-emplo ... scriptions

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same thing: "You can reclaim tax on fees or subscriptions" - again that's just the tax component, not the full amount paid.

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OK, I guess I knew it was too good to be true

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Numanoid wrote:
ATS wrote:ok stupid or stupid rich :D
Don't studio owners just write it off, when doing their taxes ?
Well, you still have to come up with the money. And writing it off doesn't mean you get all the money back. Only a small percentage.

So the SMART studio owners pass the costs on to clients as part of the project costs. Much better.

Brent
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If you are a Sonarworks user you probably got the 20% off pre-calibrated headphones coupon. I was wondering if people had any opinions about these. I have to say that since I use the Sonarworks plugin my mixing has become orders of magnitude better. But I am using only a standardized calibration for my AKGs so I'm thinking of going for a pre-calibrated pair. Any opinions about what pre-calibrated headphones are the best choice?
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MogwaiBoy wrote:
dzilizzi wrote:
But really? It works the best with bundles rather than individual plugins.
Really. And that's where it should stay, as a bundle updater / premium customer service option for high value customers - not as a yearly tax on Renaissance Bass which you got free 3 years ago and hasn't been updated since 1993 :lol:
You never have to pay until you want to update. So I don't know what the problem is. If the program hasn't changed? You can still use it. There really isn't any change for individual plug in owners. As long as your DAW or your OS doesn't do any major changes to how plugins work, you never have to pay again.

They used to charge to update when they had to update, they now just limit it to $300 if you have a bunch of plugins. It is actually a great deal.

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They used to charge to update when they had to update, they now just limit it to $300 if you have a bunch of plugins. It is actually a great deal.
yes and no. it's a "great deal" compared to paying a lot more than $300 - but it's the very opposite compared to the companies that offer free upgrades on their products.

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koolkeys wrote:So the SMART studio owners pass the costs on to clients as part of the project costs. Much better.
+1 Claim it back from the "Overhead" :D

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Not sure how it works in the US but in Canada, the below is not how it works. When you buy software, it becomes a depreciating capital asset to your company. Every year you write off a pre-schedule depreciation off the assets. I can't remember what it is for software, but around 20-40% a year. this is subtracted from the total capital assets for the next year, lowering the depreciation write off. this continues until the assets have no value in this context. So it's not writing off the cost of the software but annual depreciation. same with hardware purchased or any other "capital assets" you buy for your business.
OneOfManyPauls wrote:
Numanoid wrote:Don't studio owners just write it off, when doing their taxes ?
It's not like some kind of free purchase.

The purchase would just increase their costs, thus lowering their profit, which is the thing they ultimately get taxed on.

Simple example: If they made $100k profit somewhere where tax is 20%, and bought this at $7,600, then they would pay tax on $100k-$7,600=$92,400 @ 20% = $18,480 vs the $20k tax due on the full $100k.

So the tax benefit is $1,520 which is 20% of the purchase price (the tax rate). It would have still cost them $7,600 - ($20,000-$18,480=$1,520) = $6,080 in real terms.

Also, not sure how it would work with this kind of purchase as to whether they'd be able to allocate the whole cost in one year or if it would be done as some kind of percentage each year on a reducing balance basis like depreciation of fixed assets.

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A large Waves plugin bundle (ie Mercury) for a professional mixer or mastering engineer could definitely be classed as a company asset in my country - which means depreciation rules would apply. WUP is an expense so tax-deductable.

You can claim just about anything against the profit you make from music, that involved expenses in making that music... especially gear (hardware/software) but even things like, say, online video tutorial costs, petrol etc. Keep receipts and invoices as proof.

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dzilizzi wrote:You never have to pay until you want to update. So I don't know what the problem is. If the program hasn't changed? You can still use it. There really isn't any change for individual plug in owners. As long as your DAW or your OS doesn't do any major changes to how plugins work, you never have to pay again.
Spoken like a PC user! Us lucky Mac users get our OS's broken every 9 months. ;)

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OneOfManyPauls wrote:
They used to charge to update when they had to update, they now just limit it to $300 if you have a bunch of plugins. It is actually a great deal.
yes and no. it's a "great deal" compared to paying a lot more than $300 - but it's the very opposite compared to the companies that offer free upgrades on their products.
How many companies offer free upgrades though? And manage to stay in business?

I should qualify that - how many offer free upgrades that aren't just bug fixes? Because really? After a while you can't afford to pay your people if you aren't charging for something. It is basic economics.

This is not to say I don't take advantage of all the freebies and deals out there.....but there usually is a reason why they are free. :D

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Uncle E wrote:
dzilizzi wrote:You never have to pay until you want to update. So I don't know what the problem is. If the program hasn't changed? You can still use it. There really isn't any change for individual plug in owners. As long as your DAW or your OS doesn't do any major changes to how plugins work, you never have to pay again.
Spoken like a PC user! Us lucky Mac users get our OS's broken every 9 months. ;)
Honestly it is quite pointless to try mac OS updates if you own plugins from more than a couple devs. For the last couple years, by the time driver/plugin fixes settle down it's already 3 months away another new OS ver. It's an impossible game to play.

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dzilizzi wrote:How many companies offer free upgrades though? And manage to stay in business?

I should qualify that - how many offer free upgrades that aren't just bug fixes? Because really? After a while you can't afford to pay your people if you aren't charging for something. It is basic economics.
Outside of the bundles, isn't Wave's WUP basically paying for bug/compatibility fixes and "approval" to resell?

There seem to be two kinds of companies: those that view a sale as an ongoing revenue stream through paid updates/service plans eg Waves, and those that seek to expand their customer base by rewarding customers with free updates - eg Melda.

Basic economics includes economies of scale - there's no reason why providing free updates should lead to ruin.

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OneOfManyPauls wrote:
dzilizzi wrote:How many companies offer free upgrades though? And manage to stay in business?

I should qualify that - how many offer free upgrades that aren't just bug fixes? Because really? After a while you can't afford to pay your people if you aren't charging for something. It is basic economics.
Outside of the bundles, isn't Wave's WUP basically paying for bug/compatibility fixes and "approval" to resell?

There seem to be two kinds of companies: those that view a sale as an ongoing revenue stream through paid updates/service plans eg Waves, and those that seek to expand their customer base by rewarding customers with free updates - eg Melda.

Basic economics includes economies of scale - there's no reason why providing free updates should lead to ruin.

Considering Waves has been in business for well over 20 years I'd say the way they do things is working fine.
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