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I've worked as an educator and freelance writer for many years, spending two of those years freelancing full time. If you work and live doing some kind of creative activity, you're sure to be familiar with the difficult balancing act it is to keep work, income, bills, life, and everything else on an even keel. Peter Jason Riley's New Tax Guide for Writers, Artists, Performers, & Other Creative People is useful in that it largely clears up the murky waters of taxes for creative independent contractors and freelancers. New Tax Guide is a revision of a previous book with a similar name by R. Brendan Hanlon. Riley begins this recast book with a description of how this new version came to be, introducing the reader to a cast of fictional performers who will be used to anchor the technical language and guidelines in the real world. He then discusses some major aspects of tax knowledge, including what income really means and how deductions work. The book follows this discussion with a chapter for each type of creative performer: actors/actresses/directors/dancers, musicians and singers, visual artists, and writers. Next, Riley provides important tips on setting up your own business and conducting financials connected to that business. He finishes by discussing tax advisors and how to plan for taxes. There are also two useful appendices that will help the creative person find further resources that can be of assistance. Chapter One discusses income, and is of particular use. Using a conversational tone, images of the actual income forms, and fictional anecdotes from our cast of performers, Riley teaches the difference between W2 income and Form 1099 income, as well as how to treat it. He points out in Chapter 2 that deductions are very individual, but he successfully goes over the applicable guidelines, using publications directly from the IRS. The important rules are then distilled into practical guidelines that help you identify deductible business expenses. Of particular use are the chapters devoted to the different types of creative performers. As a writer, I was gratified to see that Riley mentioned income and expenses connected to supplies, travel and media consumption. These are little-known issues for writers and so they can be somewhat arcane. Riley elucidates important issues for all of the areas of creative performance and work, using tax forms from 2008 to show specific details and the anecdotes to clarify and anchor the information in the real world. Writers, artists, dancers, actors and everyone else who works in some kind of creative capacity for profit will also find value in the final chapters, which focus on setting up a business entity and the different tax issues related to each business type. For example, he teaches about the Limited Liability Company, or LLC and how incorporating can be helpful, tax-wise. There is also a handy discussion on partnerships versus sole proprietorships and the pros and cons of both, particularly from a tax point of view. All in all, Riley's New Tax Guide is a useful tool for those who have one or more sources of income that are a result of creative work. With a final word regarding 2009 tax updates and the value of a good tax professional, it's clear that this book doesn't purport to be an all-in-one solution to tax issues. However, it does an excellent job of demystifying the tax world for people who tend to not be naturally analytical. ---------------------------- Reviewed by Jared Nathan Garrett
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Jared Nathan Garrett has a BA in Linguistics and a MA in TESOL and Instructional Design, both from Brigham Young University. While a student, he completed a theater study abroad program in London. Starting in 1999, he taught ESL/EFL in Japan, Taiwan, and at several schools in Utah. He also spent most of a year working as a pedagogical consultant. He currently works as a writer and an instructional designer. He is a family man with a brilliant wife, five goofy kids and one on the way, three gardens, a bunch of chickens and an irritating cat. He has written fiction, user manuals, SEO copy, radio scripts and contributed to multiple textbooks as co-author and editor. He lives under the Wasatch Mountains.
