Artist Tax Return Tips and Reminders
It’s that dreaded time of year again for most of us right brained Artists. If you are anything like me, you procrastinate this dreaded task until the very last moment. However, I do stay relatively organized throughout the year. In an effort to make this process a little less painful, I’m including some tips from my accountant and my system.
As artists, our expense to sales ration can be rather large. It’s important that you track those deductible expenses that you may later exempt. If you are unsure what you can deduct, please double check with your accountant. For your convenience, I have a downloadable list to help you. You can add or delete as necessary.
Helpful Artist Tax Return Categories
[Download not found]I suggest you document on Cash basis-as paid (preferred method)
Categories for home office expenses (add your studio space rent if needed)
- Studio Space
- Supplies
- Hardware/Software
- Repairs/Maintenance
- Education/Research
- Publications
- Travel
- Automobile expenses
- Phone
- Cell Phone
- Electric
- Internet
- Entry Fees
- Shipping Fees
- Shipping Supplies
- Advertising-Marketing
- Website fees
- Insurance
- Membership Fees
Organizing Your Taxes
I highly recommend you set up a manual filing system to keep track of your records throughout the year. Let’s face it, many days, we are plain busy and it’s easiest to file it away to track later. An electronic system also serves as a back up.
Of course, once you are finished you will need to total your categories and input into your tax software or send off to your accountant.
A Great Reference for Artists
I found this very helpful website from Riley & Associates. They have several free downloads to help you stay organized. Here is the link: http://artstaxinfo.com/artists.shtml
Happy filing.
Written by Tina A Stoffel
Clip art is courtesy of: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/1361828.htm
