A taxing endeavor

[pbray]

In a perfect world I would have an assistant who kept on top of these things for me. In the real world everything gets thrown in a folder on the theory that I'll deal with it when I have to. That time finally came, so this past weekend I excavated the folder so I could enter the numbers into spreadsheets and then fill out my taxes.

There were dozens of slips of paper to go through, but taken together it's pretty clear that a writer's most frequent destinations are office supply stores, bookstores and the post office, with the occasional trip to a convention or signing.

Advertising expenses are where things get interesting, whether it's a receipt for two pounds of candy for a book signing, or an order for several dozen lizard keychains. I've contemplated other ideas-- like renting the Goodyear blimp to circle San Diego during Comic-Con, or commissioning our own brand of Gilgamesh sanctioned UR-BEER, but the theory that advertising expenses should not exceed the advance tend to rein in my more extravagant fancies.

Then there are the things that aren't tax-deductible but should be, such as massages to relieve tension in shoulders/neck from being hunched over the keyboard, or the awesome jacket I bought to wear at WFC. And I'm pretty sure my critique partners qualify as dependents, or should that be co-dependents? I may need to give this more study.

Comments

[karen-w-newton.livejournal.com]

I'm with you! My husband calls my critique group my support group, so I think I should be able to pay for trips there on my health insurance!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

At the very least, the wine and chocolate for our critique sessions ought to count as office supplies, don't you think?

[karen-w-newton.livejournal.com]

you mean they're not? -)

[lagilman]

Apparently the only profession that can write off clothing/costumes are a) actors and b) prostitutes.

[straight from the tax guy's Little Book of IRS]

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

In the UK, I think barristers can, too.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Well you can also deduct the cost of uniforms, so if we could ever prove that being a writer required you to wear all black, we might have a case here :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

A close friend of my is a tax advisor. She and I have for years tried to work out a plausible reason why cats are a necessary and tax deductible expense.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It does seem like they ought to be.