[Trombone-l] Business advice anyone?

[Eric & Candice Swanson]

Alisha Ard wrote:

>Anyone out there have advice for someone who's primary source of  
>income has **strangely enough** become trombone playing?  I got a  
>notice I need to get a Business Tax Registration Certificate, and  
>this has got me feeling a little out of my element.  I mean, last  
>year was the first year of my life I wasn't a student, for heaven's  
>sake!  So anyone who's done this before, can you give me a hint?
>  
>

Alisha,

Ask some of the guys out there if this applies to you.  Did this come 
from the state?  It sounds like what we have here in Texas if you have a 
business that is required to collect sales tax on goods or services 
provided.  Since we do not charge sales tax on trombone playing 
services, we do not have to have a tax permit for that business.  Your 
state (CA, right?) could be different, but I've never heard of such a 
thing for musicians.

You will have to file a Schedule C with your federal income tax Form 
1040.  On it, you'll list all your self employed income and list 
deductions for mileage, expenses like equipment, repairs, music, CDs, 
uniforms (tuxes or whatever you wear for gigs), travel, etc.  Keep all 
receipts, and keep a written log of your mileage to and from gigs.  The 
more you can write off, the less tax you pay, so keep track.

W-2 income, if you have any, goes on the Form 1040 itself.  If you are 
fairly good with number you can do your taxes using TurboTax.  It walks 
you through the whole process, step by step.

Eric Swanson