Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Artists Can Claim $1000 At Tax Time

If you:
  • composed a dramatic, musical, or literary work;
  • performed as an actor, dancer, singer, or musician in a dramatic or musical work;
  • performed an artistic activity as a member of a professional artists' association that the Minister of Canadian Heritage has certified; or
  • created a painting, print, etching, drawing, sculpture, or similar work of art. For income tax purposes, it is not an artistic activity when you reproduce these items.
Claim up to $1000 in expenses or 20% of your employment income (e.g. <$5000). Here is the full link.

4 comments:

D. Sky Onosson said...

As a self-employed artist (musician, actually), I would hope that I earned at least enough in a year to have been able to spend at least $1000!

If you work out of your home, you can claim a portion of your household expenses (including utilities, rent etc.) based on the percentage of floor space you have devoted to your work area - I claim about 15%. That alone already puts me over the $1000 in expenses.

While it is welcome to have a minimum "floor" on allowable expenses, I can't imagine anyone in almost any other line of work thinking that much of being allowed to write off $1000 a year in work-related expenses. I'm sure there are lots of people who write off that much just in lunch receipts!

mondotrasho said...

Like Russ Wyatt for one.

mondotrasho said...

Serious tho'. I think it was because in the past Revenue Canada used to hassle many artists labeling them as "hobbyists". This is basically for those who are pulling the night shift (like me) with their art. Allowing them to claim things like studio rent, supplies, shipping (I wish beer) cost etc. rather than being out of pocket and unclaimable. If one is making a viable living with their art then they're (or should be) running it like any other small business where they try to claim every part of their life as related to their self-employment the ultimate goal to have a bottom line of zero or a modest profit.

D. Sky Onosson said...

oh, I see your point. I've always been close to full-time self-employed, I hadn't really experienced it the other way.