Tax Me, Baby!

If you're anything like me, you haven't wanted to do anything but sit and watch CNN since last Friday.  For the most part, that is all I've done since the horrific events in Newtown, CT.  The blog below is one I wrote a few weeks ago and was intended for publishing at the end of the year.  It's still fantastically useful information, so I hope you enjoy it and it diverts your attention from the horror of our nation's sorrow for the three minutes it takes to read.  
 ---------------------------------------
This past year, one of my well known clients lamented, relentlessly, about how much she hated paying taxes on her and her daughter's earnings in the entertainment world.  The two earned well over $100,000 from wages and honorariums over the previous 12 months, performing work in entertainment and she was irked that The Tax Man, He Cometh!  Regardless of whether you WANT to pay the taxes on your earnings from this industry, I assure you, you NEED to pony up!

If you are a client of mine,  you probably have income from the work that you garnered throughout the year.  As I have most assuredly told you time and again, KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS - ALL your receipts.  That includes check stubs from payments you received for work; accounts payable invoice statements I sent you for jobs which I collected and sent payments to you, and any international transfer records for jobs you received overseas.  Additionally, keep any and all records from work-related expenses!  Travel, hotel, clothing, headshots, photo sessions, they ALL count as business expenses and need to be deducted from your tax bill! 

So friends, clients and fans - heed the above advice.  Read it, recite it, commit it to memory.  I tell you these things because regardless of how you feel about the tax man, not only will he eventually catch up with you, I WILL NOT lie on your behalf when you finally get caught trying to cheat your way to a lower rate.  That goes for past clients, current clients and future clients.  So the above mentioned client, the one who hates paying taxes worse than receiving a hot coffee enema; should she choose not to take my cautions to heart, I will most assuredly be doing the talk show circuit when the IRS takes her down and the media needs comments from someone who knew her well before her stint in prison for tax evasion.

Until next time,

Heather Ryan
The Ultimate Talent Mentor
www.RyanTalent.com