U.S. Tax Gurus- Some assistance, please.

[Silverfish]

The end of the year draws nigh, and so comes Tax Season.

I have some questions about the taxes I will be filing in the coming months. I could just do regular taxes, and get my tax return and be done with it, but now that I'm working full time as an entertainer, I want to see if there are other tax breaks, write offs, etc.

My situation:

I work full time as a singer for a talent agency, and I have taxes deducted from my regular paycheck. However, I've heard from my coworkers that as an "Entertainer", I am allowed to itemize stuff for tax write offs. I'd rather be safe than sorry, but if I can squeeze a few more bucks back from Uncle Sam, I'd be happy.

Anyone in the know? Any online resources?

Thanks,

[blakbeltjonez]

i am certainly not a guru, but i did have a significant amount of 1099 income from music for many years so i am a little bit familiar with the ins and outs of taxes.

the big question is, do you have enough potential deductions that add up to more than the standard deduction(let's just assume that you are filing as a single tax payer, so your deduction would be $5700 this year)? if you keep a log of your driving miles to work, receipts for work related purchases, lunch/dinner, etc., you might be able to do it without too much trouble.

that would require a fair amount of discipline to keep track of receipts, miles, etc. throughout the year, and you might find that it's easier just to say "eff it, i'll just take the deduction". i have just done a standard deductionfor most of the years that i did a Schedule C.

if you have money witheld by your employer (you get a W-2 from them at the beginning of this year), whether you are an entertainer or not, you may not be able to legitimately claim all the deductions you could from 1099 income (where you have to do a Schedule C Profit & Loss From Business form for self-employed, sole proprioter scenario). this is where you would need to get further guidance froma tax pro, as well as the trivia about what exactly you can claim as a deduction. i suspect that it's your filing status that's more relevant than your job title.

if you've bought a fair amount of gear, that may be your incentive to itemize your return - i think even older purchases can be amortized/deducted as a one-time deal ( i did this about 10 years ago, so my memory on this isn't totally reliable). again, that would be something to discuss with a tax pro.

[Hidden Driveways]

Find a good local entertainment accountant. Their fee should be around $300 or less, and they should be able to increase your tax return by a large enough margin that it covers their fee and the difference gets you more $$$ than you would have otherwise. There are lots of entertainers in your town with similar jobs. I would talk to a few of them and try to get connected to an accountant with a solid track record.

[LuckyLoo]

It's not that hard, but you can deduct a lot. You'll fill out a schedule c along with the regular tax forms. Watch out for mileage, make sure it is all written down, and any home office has to make sense to the irs. I was a professional entertainer for years, and I was audited twice.

[Tarekith]

Definitely get a local accountant, the money they save you will pay for their fees ten times over. There's a lot of fine print about things like mileage being deductable, better to get an expert to tell what to do than risk getting it wrong and having to pay a fine.

[H20nly]

^ + 1

They recently changed the laws regarding mileage. I'm not sure the full extent of it, but I know they are at least paying a little more now.

If you don't own a home deductions are often not worth the hassle, but it would be better to find out properly this time and then have an educated approach next year.