What tax deductions can I claim as a musician working multiple jobs?
Hey everyone! I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle our tax situation as musicians with several income streams. My husband and I are both professional musicians, and we have a mix of different jobs. We both teach part-time at a local conservatory (W-2 income), but we also do gig work, session recordings, and private lessons (1099 income). I'm trying to make sure I'm claiming all the deductions we're entitled to without raising any red flags. For our instruments, I know we can deduct maintenance, repairs, and even depreciation - but I'm not sure how to split these when they're used for both teaching and freelance work. Same question for our home studio equipment and the portion of our apartment we use for teaching private students. We spent about $3,800 on instrument repairs last year, $2,200 on new equipment, and roughly $1,700 on sheet music and educational materials. We also drive to gigs quite a bit - is it better to track actual expenses or just use the standard mileage rate? Any advice from fellow musicians or tax pros who understand our bizarre income situation would be super helpful! I don't want to miss out on legitimate deductions, but I also don't want to get us audited.
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Harmony Love
As a tax preparer who works with many musicians, I can tell you you're on the right track! For expenses that apply to both W-2 employment and self-employment (1099) work, you'll need to allocate them based on usage. For instrument repairs, equipment, and supplies, estimate what percentage is used for your self-employed work versus teaching. Only the self-employment portion can be deducted on Schedule C. Unfortunately, employee business expenses for your W-2 teaching jobs are no longer deductible on federal returns since the 2018 tax changes. For your home studio, you can claim the home office deduction if the space is used regularly and exclusively for your self-employment activities. Measure the square footage of your teaching/studio space and divide by total home square footage to get your percentage. For mileage, most musicians find the standard mileage rate (65.5 cents per mile for 2023) more beneficial than actual expenses. Just keep a detailed log of business-related trips for your self-employed work. Don't forget other potential deductions: professional memberships, union dues, music streaming subscriptions used for business, website expenses, and professional development costs!
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Rudy Cenizo
•This is really helpful, thanks! Quick question - for things like our digital keyboards that we use both for teaching at the conservatory AND for our home studio lessons, is there a standard percentage split people use? Or do we need to actually track hours used for each purpose?
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Harmony Love
•There's no standard percentage split – you should make a reasonable estimate based on actual usage. You don't need to track every hour, but do create a reasonable method to determine usage. For example, if you teach 15 hours weekly at the conservatory and use the keyboard for 10 hours in your self-employed work, you could justify a 40% business use deduction on Schedule C. For any significant equipment purchases, keep documentation that shows both the business purpose and your calculation for the business-use percentage. This is especially important for items over $2,500 that might qualify for Section 179 expensing or depreciation.
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Natalie Khan
Just wanted to share my experience with a similar situation! I was trying to handle all my music-related deductions myself and kept getting confused about what expenses went where. I finally tried https://taxr.ai and it was seriously a game-changer for organizing my music business expenses. I uploaded my receipts and bank statements, and their system helped identify what could be legitimately claimed for my self-employed music work vs. what wasn't deductible for my teaching position. It even flagged some deductions I was missing, like my professional liability insurance and the portion of my internet bill related to my online lessons. The best part was that it organized everything by category for Schedule C reporting and calculated my home studio deduction correctly. Saved me hours of sorting through receipts and second-guessing myself!
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Daryl Bright
•That sounds like exactly what I need! Does it help with allocating expenses between different types of music work? Like I do orchestral gigs, session work, AND private teaching, and I'm never sure how to split things up correctly.
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Sienna Gomez
•I'm pretty skeptical of these tax services that claim to magically identify deductions. How accurate is it really? Did you have any issues with the IRS questioning the deductions it recommended?
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Natalie Khan
•It definitely helps with allocating expenses between different types of music work! You can tag each income source separately (orchestral, session, teaching) and then assign expenses to multiple categories with percentage splits. I found this incredibly helpful for things like my cello that I use across all my work. As for accuracy, I was skeptical too at first. But they use actual tax professionals to review anything questionable, not just AI. I've been using it for two tax seasons now with no issues from the IRS. The documentation it creates for each deduction is super thorough, which gives me peace of mind if I ever did get audited.
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Sienna Gomez
I followed up on that taxr.ai recommendation and I have to admit I was wrong to be skeptical. Just finished organizing my 2022 expenses for my late filing (oops) and it was way easier than my usual spreadsheet nightmare. The system caught several deductions I've been missing - like my digital audio subscription services that I use for teaching and my home internet allocation. It even helped me properly document my instrument insurance which I wasn't sure was deductible. For anyone like me juggling multiple music income streams, it saved me hours of sorting through credit card statements trying to remember which expenses went with which gigs. The documentation it creates for each deduction is really thorough too - feels much safer than my old system of scribbled notes and hoping for the best!
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
Fellow musician here! If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS with questions about musician-specific deductions (which I definitely did), I highly recommend trying https://claimyr.com to get connected. I was on hold for HOURS trying to get clarification about home studio deductions before I found them. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they wait on hold with the IRS for you and call when an agent picks up. I had specific questions about deducting soundproofing for my home teaching studio that none of the tax software could answer. Got connected to an IRS rep in about 40 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I spent trying myself. The agent was able to confirm that permanent soundproofing needs to be depreciated, but portable sound panels can be fully deducted in the year purchased if used exclusively for business. Totally worth it for that peace of mind!
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Abigail bergen
•How does this actually work though? I don't understand how they can get you through faster than if you called yourself? The IRS queue is the same for everyone, isn't it?
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Ahooker-Equator
•This sounds like complete BS to me. Nobody can magically jump the IRS queue. They probably just keep redialing or have some autodialer setup. I bet they're charging an arm and a leg for this "service" too.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•They don't get you through faster than the regular queue - they just wait in it for you. Their system dials and stays on hold so you don't have to sit there listening to the hold music for hours. When an actual IRS agent picks up, you get a call so you can jump in and talk to them. You're right that they're using technology to manage the waiting - that's exactly the point! I spent over 3 hours on separate days trying to get through myself before giving up. This way I could keep teaching and just grab the call when an agent was actually available. The confirmation about how to handle my soundproofing expenses was exactly what I needed.
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Ahooker-Equator
I have to eat some crow here. After bashing that Claimyr service, I got frustrated enough with my own musician tax questions that I tried it. Not gonna lie, it actually worked. I had questions about reporting income from compositions and royalties versus performance income, and I'd been trying to reach the IRS for days. Used their service and got a callback when an agent was on the line about 75 minutes later. The agent walked me through how to properly categorize different royalty types and performance income on Schedule C. The time saved was honestly worth it - I could practice instead of being stuck on hold. And the peace of mind from getting an official answer directly from the IRS rather than guessing or trusting random internet advice? Priceless. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!
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Anderson Prospero
One big tip for musicians that saved me thousands: track your mileage diligently! I'm a drummer who drives to multiple venues/studios/teaching locations, and I was missing out on a huge deduction. I use a simple app that logs each trip, and last year I was able to deduct over 6,000 miles driven for gigs and sessions. At the 2022 rate of 58.5 cents per mile, that was a $3,500+ deduction on my Schedule C. Remember you can only deduct miles driven for your self-employed work though, not for your W-2 teaching jobs. And keep detailed records! Date, starting location, destination, purpose of trip, and miles driven for each business trip.
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Tyrone Hill
•Does anyone know if you can deduct mileage when you're carrying passengers (like other band members) to gigs? We usually carpool in my van since I'm the one with all the gear space, but I wasn't sure if having others with me affects the deduction.
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Anderson Prospero
•Yes, you can absolutely deduct business mileage even when carpooling with band members! The key is that the primary purpose of the trip must be business-related, which going to a paid gig certainly is. Having passengers doesn't reduce or eliminate your deduction. In fact, if you're the designated driver for your band and regularly transport equipment and band members, make sure you're also tracking any parking fees and tolls, as these are deductible in addition to your mileage. Just keep good records of dates, locations, and the business purpose of each trip.
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Toot-n-Mighty
Has anyone here depreciated expensive instruments? I bought a $12,300 saxophone last year that I use for both teaching and performances, and I'm not sure whether to depreciate it or take a Section 179 deduction for the portion used in my self-employed work.
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Lena Kowalski
•I've done this with my $9000 cello. My accountant recommended depreciation rather than Section 179 since I use it for both W-2 and 1099 work. We calculated that I use it about 65% for self-employed gigs and teaching, so I'm depreciating that portion over 7 years. Makes my tax situation more stable than taking one huge deduction in a single year.
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