Actors who are confused or frustrated at the prospect of preparing their income tax returns have a new resource available. The Actor’s Tax Guide is an “e-book,” available for Internet download, and zeroes in on the specific needs of actors.
“Actors love to complain that nobody else understands how we live our lives,” said Mark Bradley, veteran actor and author of the new guide. “And that includes many professional tax preparers and the authors of general-purpose tax guides. I wrote the book because the general tax guides offer almost no help at all to actors. So in the book, I focus in on the kinds of unique business expenses actors have.”
Bradley has been a professional actor for over 35 years and is based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. In the past, he headed the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) project of the Twin Cities Local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Teaming with a local CPA, he also presented tax workshops for local actors for several years. “I’ve always enjoyed helping my fellow actors with tax matters, and this seems like a good way to reach more people. With e-publishing, I didn’t have to worry about actually working with a publisher and producing a physical book, and you can’t beat the convenience of an immediate download.”
Written in consultation with a Twin Cities CPA, The Actor’s Tax Guide contains a step-by-step process for calculating and reporting an actor’s professional expenses and includes printable worksheets to assist in the process. “I’m especially pleased with the worksheet I call the Schedule of Professional Expenses,” Bradley said. The sheet lists two dozen types of expenses actors commonly incur and provides a way to separate expenses related to W-2 (employee) income from 1099 (self-employment) income. The other worksheets deal with travel, transportation and entertainment expenses and vehicle mileage. Bradley said that even if a person uses a professional tax preparer, the techniques in the book will help. “If they can go into the accountant with their expenses neatly organized in the format I provide, it will save the accountant’s time in doing their return.”
Bradley stressed that The Actor’s Tax Guide is not a “comprehensive” guide to every tax situation. “If someone has complicated stock and bond trades, or income from real estate, or is in the middle of a messy divorce, those tax situations are outside my limited focus,” Bradley said. “If something is beyond the scope of this book, I’ll say so. If I think the reader should seek professional advice about something, I’ll say so. I’m not a lawyer or a CPA, and I can’t give legal advice, but I do think that this book will make the process of doing income taxes less stressful.”
The Actors Tax Guide is 107 pages and is available for $19.95 at www.ActorsTaxGuide.com.
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