From: matt mc (lists) (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Jun 25 2008 - 12:55:55 PDT
this is something i have far more experience in that i ever wanted to have.
the biggest thing is, well, just be honest. they are good at catching
cheaters, but at the same time most of what we do as indie/experimental
filmmakers is totally legit. i have been audited and did just fine once
they really took a look. one thing to be mindful of, however, is that if
you sell a piece of equipment that you deducted as a business expense then
you must list that money as income- even if you bought it a couple years
ago. basically, if you right-off that bolex or computer or whatever, then
get audited, they want to see that piece of equipment. if you sold it, then
you better have listed that money as income. when you get audited, they
look at several years in a row- so if you bought a computer in 2005, sold it
in 2007, then get audited in 2008, you'd better have listed the sold
computer as income.
save receipts/be organized + deduct all film related expenses + be honest
and you should be just fine. there are a lot of artist friendly accountants
out there, best bet is to find someone in your town and work with them.
it's certainly worth the expense in my opinion.
-matt
On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 12:14 PM, Steve Polta <email suppressed> wrote:
> In my experience, Jason is correct. Filing Schedule C, even if you "only"
> spent $800 and earned $10, can help you.
>
> One more legitimate deduction: you are permitted to write off rent paid on
> studio or work space. If you work "at home" (in a room in your apartment or
> whatever) you can write off a proportional percentage of your rent. The
> catch is that the area must be *only* used for the "business" and not for
> anything else.
>
> Steve Polta
>
>
> --- On Tue, 6/24/08, Jason Cortlund <email suppressed> wrote:
>
> > From: Jason Cortlund <email suppressed>
> > Subject: Re: taxes & film expenses
> > To: email suppressed
> > Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 9:43 AM
> > Actually, Roger, I think that's only correct for
> > Schedule A deductions (as
> > in charitable/tax deductible donations).
> >
> > The Schedule C is not related to your standard deduction.
> > You apply the
> > profit or loss of your "business" (from the
> > Schedule C) against your
> > wages/salaries/tips to find your Total Income. After that
> > you apply either
> > the standard deduction or your itemized Schedule A
> > deductions (whichever is
> > greater).
> >
> > But again, I'm not a CPA.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Jason Cortlund
> >
> >
> > On 6/24/08 12:14 PM, "Roger Beebe"
> > <email suppressed> wrote:
> >
> > > In all of this, though, do remember that if you
> > don't spend more than
> > > the standard deduction ($5450 for single folks in
> > 2008), then
> > > itemizing won't save you a dime.
> > >
> > > ...
> > > Roger
> > >
> > > On Jun 23, 2008, at 11:52 PM, Steve Polta wrote:
> > >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________________
> > For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at
> > <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
-- ------------------------------- www.rodeofilmco.com ------------------------------- __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.