Since tax policy is in the news, maybe it’s a good moment to talk about musicians and tax policy! (Thread)

As workers who patch together lots of different income streams from lots of different sources, musicians’ tax situations can be pretty unusual and complex. Many musicians also tend to be on the lower end of the income spectrum and may lack resources for tax-prep support.

Here’s a good guide to bookmark for next year, thanks to @thecreativeindp https://thecreativeindependent.com/guides/a-smart-artists-guide-to-income-taxes/

The data is clear: lower income folks are more likely to be audited than wealthier folks! That’s a policy choice.

We need to recognize the complexity of dealing with taxes as yet another form of uncompensated labor required of people working in this field, just like managing metadata and registering with PROs. This impacts who ends up participating, and whose songs we hear.