Can I Charge for Reiki?

Christian | Standing Stones Healing Co.

I have been practicing Reiki for two months now, over 12 hands-on sessions completed, and have been asked by several, “what do you charge.” I am in California and do NOT have a business. In terms of charging a fee, is a “liability form” wise, especially as I branch out to others? Can I not charge unless I have an official business (LLC or S-Corp??) 

Congratulations on offering sessions and getting ready to charge. Yes! This is exciting! And the truth is that once you start charging, you have a business. A business does not need to be a formal entity filed with your state in order to be a business. The filing fee (cost to establish a formal business) in CA is not high, but the annual fee, the amount you pay each year for an LLC, is quite high ($800!) especially compared to other states.

But with a sole proprietorship, you don't need to do anything, just collect and keep track of your money (and yes, have insurance, too), and then include the amount you earned on your tax return. There is so much to say about all of this, but yes, you can charge without being an LLC (an S-Corp, for those who don't know, is a kind of LLC that has different tax rules in which you're the employee, but this is not something that any new practitioner needs to worry about unless/until you earn enough for the tax changes to financially make sense for you). I think my article on business types, DBA? LLC? OMG!, will really help, and I encourage you to check it out. Thanks!