Wednesday, February 4, 2015

TAXES FOR WRITERS

I put the topic in caps because this is important! You don’t want to miss out on what is, as Lucy says, “only” your “fair share”.

Some writers, even a lot of tax accountants, think the IRS hobby rule applies to writers. It doesn’t have to, if you’re serious about your writing.

To begin with, take a look at this IRS publication: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=186056,00.html
If you’re starting out as a full-time writer, you don’t have to declare income 3 of the last 5 years if you satisfy some requirements.

The important points for you, as a beginning writer (not making any money), from this article are:
  • Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit?
  • If there are losses, are they due to circumstances beyond your control or did they occur in the start-up phase of the business?
  • Do you have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business?
  • Do you expect to make a profit in the future from the appreciation of assets used in the activity?

You can report losses on a Schedule C for quite a few years before the IRS will take a look at you. See this article, which elaborates on the above:

This link gives some checkpoints to make sure you’re fulfilling the requirements:

You can see that it’s important to be keeping records of submissions, classes, time spent, and to conduct writing as a business in every way you can. Also, of course, keep track of what you can deduct.

This article goes into exquisite detail: http://www.eclectics.com/articles/taxes.html
This one includes some forms to help you keep track if you don’t already have some that you like: http://www.artstaxinfo.com/writers.shtml


I hope this helps. Don’t lose out on loss deductions that you’re entitled to. And may you someday be declaring a profit! I did last year for the first time in 12 years. It was a small 3-figure profit, but maybe someday it’ll be more.



10 comments:

  1. Thanks for this really helpful post Kaye! I plan to share this.

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  2. You're welcome! (I wish I hadn't been too tired to fix all that white space last night, but at least it's legible.)

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  3. You can either use the Share It buttons or you can use the address:
    http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/2015/02/taxes-for-writers.html

    Thanks!!

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  4. Thanks for this, Kaye George. All starting-out writers should have a good understanding of the tax aspects of what they're doing. Some of them can be beneficial.

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  5. I agree! You're welcome, Ron. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. Thanks for these links, Kaye. I'm saving this post for future reference.

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  7. I just got a question about DBAs, so I think I might do a blog on that next week. Meanwhile, I'm going to put these 2 links here so I don't lose them.
    http://www.legalzoom.com/sitemap-dba-state-requirements1.html
    and
    http://dbafilingonline.com/dba-by-state/

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  8. This is so helpful. Thanks a bunch.

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