Calling all Entertainers, Artists, Independent Contractors and Freelancers!!!!!
Over the years if there was 1 thing that made me frozen, not able to move forward, not able to think clearly ... it was tax season. My fear was crippling, not real and all in my head! I’d certainly conquered harder things and achieved greater heights than surviving tax season, so what was wrong with me? Why was I making it an emotional process? It’s only information, you gather it, add it up, and usually hand it over to someone else to file. That's it!
As performers we tend to have a few W2's & 1099’s a year. Was I really scared of doing easy addition then handing it over for someone else to do? Really?
Not anymore! My life got infinitely better when I started using MINT.COM. Life got even sweeter when I made my Mint 'Categories' the same as my tax deduction sheet. This piece of application only scratches the surface of the tech out there built to help you with your money, but what a start. I can wrap my mind around what’s happening with my money, and at tax time, I simply type in Makeup, and every MAC and SEPHORA purchase appears with the total. Once a month I go into the app and assign what has no been automatically assigned to a category. BOOM!
NO! I am not being paid by MINT.COM to pass this information on to you.
Like I keep saying, this is not the creative process, you don't have to create the computations or equations to get your taxes done. Plug in the numbers on the sheet and get a professional to do the rest, they know the updated tax codes, just do your part.
TAXES - To Do List …
* NOTE: If you are already using Mint or any of the other great apps like Mint, plug in the category totals into the deduction worksheet and continue with item 6 on this list.
1 Get your receipts
3 Put the receipts in piles based on the deduction sheet categories
4 Get a calculator
5 Add the piles up and write in the amounts on the sheet.
6 Gather the following for that filing year:
-Last year's tax returns.
-Mortgage interest and taxes paid
-Any contributions to an IRA of any sort
-Charitable contributions
-Medical expenses (not reimbursed by insurance)
-W2’s
-1099’s (don't forget Unemployment benefits)
* NOTE: PLEASE CONTINUE TO SAVE YOUR PAPER RECEIPTS IN CASE OF UNFORESEEN AUDITS. Yuck!!!!
Where to get your taxes done?
If you already have someone that you trust, great! The deduction sheet will make it easy for them to get it done and done!
VITA - Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. Check it out!
FREE NYC TAXES with Vita at Actor's Equity, they have their own worksheets to fill out for their services. (only for union members in good standing)
FREE LA TAXES with Vita at The Actor's Fund in LA, they also have worksheets ready for you to print out and fill out. (only for union members of Actors' Equity, SAG-AFTRA and IATSE)
OTHER FREE LA TAXES - MyFreeTaxes.org
If you are not in NYC or LA, put in your zip and get a location HERE. I recommend calling your local office, let them know you are a professional artist with itemized deductions already filled out, they should recommend someone specific to see.
Thank you for reading and I hope this helps you this tax season. If you have any new and wonderful tax resources to share, please do! You can post it on The Artistry Center's Facebook page to help others.
TheArtistryCenter.com
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