9 Huge Actors Tax Write Offs – And Other Tax Tips

So before I head out and watch the eclipse, I thought I'd share this really helpful video with you. It's all about 9 huge actors' tax write-offs and some other tax tips for actors in this video. And if you watch this to the end, I've got a great bonus video. It's If you're not connecting with your co-actor, try this. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Actor and Model Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center, where I share information with you based on my almost 40 years of experience working as a full-time actor. So in this video, look, it's It's tax time, and there are lots of different ways of viewing doing your taxes for actors, which is actually— it's quite a bit different sometimes than for other kinds of professions. And, and I want to give you some really good tips. And just so you know, and I want to state this disclaimer up front, I'm not a CPA, I'm not an accountant, so Everything that I'm telling you, it's based on what I've done, what I've learned from my experience. But look, anything you're going to be doing, if you're not sure, you've got to ask an industry professional, you know, an accountant or CPA, just to make sure that you're not doing anything that you shouldn't be doing. So let's get going here. Oh, and by the way, hey, if you have any suggestions on really helpful tax tips, please share them here so that way we can learn from you as well. So I've got my list here. Here's number 1. Any kind of equipment that you use solely for shooting home auditions is something that you could write off for taxes. Once again, ask just to make sure. This is what I do though when I bought the equipment. I use my lighting system solely for home auditions. I use my MacBook Pro, which I already paid for. I already deducted a portion of that. But if you buy a microphone strictly for work, you know, absolutely, those are things you might want to consider. The other thing too is if you use your cell phone for shooting auditions, then perhaps you can take a percentage of what you pay for your cell phone on a monthly basis and deduct that. Look, if you're using your cell phone for other reasons, you actually might make phone calls with it. Well, of course you can't do it 100%, but you might be able to do a percentage. And if you have a room That is, that is dedicated for just shooting home auditions, maybe you can take a percentage of your living expenses for taxes for just your room. And I'm able to take a very small percentage of some of my house expenses because I do have a room. It's, it's my home office. It's just dedicated for acting stuff. Number 2, headshots. Look, that is definitely an expense that all actors need to get, and so that's something to seriously consider. When you are printing things like, for instance, and this is number 3, a resume, you know, you're only using that for acting purposes. So absolutely, that's something to seriously consider. If you purchase and create a business card, which is number 4, that's something that you might be able to deduct. Let me go to my list here because I do have a bunch of other things. Unions, which would be number 5. If you are a member of a union and you pay dues, Absolutely, that is something that you would be able to deduct. Number 6, if you do mileage, and once again, there are many different ways of doing this. Some people, you know, deduct, you know, gas, some people do mileage. I happen to do mileage, but that's something, you know, you can ask about Maybe that's something that you can add in when you're filling out your taxes just to help lower them a little bit. Number 7, if you buy any industry books, that is something that I deduct. Number 8, if you are taking any acting classes, if you take private sessions, That's something to seriously consider for a write-off. And number 9, and this is something that you got to be a little bit careful about, it's your wardrobe. And sometimes people think, okay, so I have a— I don't— an acting job, they need me to wear a black v-neck sweater, so I'm going to go out and buy a black v-neck sweater for this shoot. That is not something that you can deduct. This is what I've been told. What I— what's been told to me is if you purchase a piece of wardrobe that can be worn at other times throughout the year in public, then it's not deductible. The only way that you can deduct wardrobe is if it's Something that is so unique that you wouldn't wear it anywhere else. Like, for instance, if you— let's say you're performing, I don't know, in Vegas, and you've got a very special kind of outfit, you know, it's glittery and something that you would never wear in your everyday life, and you would only wear it for work. Yes. Then that is Deductible. So anyhow, those are 9 areas that hopefully will be helpful to you and help you with your taxes. Hey, and one other thing I was just thinking of— agent's fees. Absolutely. At least for me, that's something that I've been always deducting. And whether you are non-union and paying maybe 20% commission fee for a job. If you're a member of SAG-AFTRA and you're paying a 10%, or it's a commercial modeling job, that is also a 20% commission fee. Those are deductible fees, you know, as well as once again, if you have, let's say, a website that is strictly being used for acting Then that's something you might be able to deduct as well. So I, I hope this was helpful to you. And, and please, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget to subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded. If you like it, give it a thumbs up, that's always helpful. And share it, share the link with fellow actors so we can continue building a great channel filled with actors who are sharing information and helping each other. Hey, you know, I was so excited about getting ready for watching totality, completely forgot I had a couple other really good tax tips that I wanted to share with you. So I'm adding this back in. Here's probably the biggest one and something that I really like to do. Sometimes people, fellow actors, kind of scramble at the end of the year and they're looking through all their statements and seeing, you If they got, you know, if they were sent any W-2s and deductions and what paymasters sent money. Here's something that will make your life a lot simpler. I have an Excel spreadsheet, and what I do is every time I get a check, I will write in, type into the Excel spreadsheet exactly, you know, the date, who the job was for, Uh, which agency was involved, uh, the gross, the, you know, the, the federal, the state, uh, the FedMed, any local taxes that were taken out and things like that. And what you'll find is it's going to make your life so much easier at the end of the year when you're— tax year, when you're getting ready to do your taxes. And the other thing too is This is just my suggestion, just because, like, I've done a bunch of training films for the IRS, and I've learned enough from talking to those folks that you really want to be very honest with your numbers. You don't want to fudge things. You don't want to, you know, not put things in there. Like, for instance, if you do, let's say, a, I don't know, a commercial modeling job, and you get paid $500, and they don't send you a 1099, 'Cause you didn't reach the $600 mark, and you're thinking, well, I guess if they didn't send anything, I don't have to report it. Well, look, maybe you'll never get caught. I don't know. I do, 'cause I don't want to deal with with the IRS. Nothing personal with those guys, but it's it could be a little bit scary. At least for me, it would be. So any kind of income that you get, you really want to share it with. the IRS, then all of your tax forms. So those are the, the 2 things just to really keep yourself sane, make things really easy for you, and hopefully it will be a good experience. For me, I can tell you, when I'm getting ready to do my taxes and take everything to, to our accountant, I always feel like it's a term paper. I'm not exaggerating. I feel like I've worked all year on this thing. I put it together. I've got all the numbers. Everything is together. And when I sit down, meet with the person, hand in everything, I walk out of there feeling I just finished a major exam or this, you know, huge paper. And it's such a relief for me. Anyhow, I just wanted to share that with you. I did mention a bonus video, and you can see the little icon up there to click on. You know, if you want to learn more about how to create a great chemistry with a co-actor, watch the video. You're going to find that it's very helpful to you. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.