Have You Been Over-paying the IRS?
© Kim Kay
When purchasing the Christmas, Hanukkah, and/or Kwanzaa cards for your friends and family, did you remember to save your receipts for the cards and the stamps? Did you write down the mileage when you drove to the post office to mail them? Those are some of the many things that, as a writer, you can deduct from your taxes. What in the world do holiday cards for family members have to do with my writing career, you ask? Did you write to them about your current novel in progress or that article you just got published? If so, you advertised yourself, a very important part of any business and thus, a deductible expense.
That is just one of the many things I learned from Elizabeth Klungness' book, Tax Tips for Writers. Klungness, whose writing career began with a short story published when she was only eight years old, has spent 30 years working as an accountant and IRS agent. During this time, she never gave up her first love - writing. Drawing on all these experiences, she created a manual that is a must for everyone who calls him/herself a writer.
I know some of you are reading this and thinking, "I don't need this yet, I've never been published. I'm not a 'real' writer." Wrong. Each and every one of you who writes on a regular basis, and enjoys doing so, is a "real" writer. It doesn't matter if you've never made a dime from anything you've written, you can still claim writing expenses on your taxes. Think of it this way, when someone starts a new business, it may not make money the first year or even the first few. Even if it results in a loss, the business related expenses are deductible. Writing is also a business. As a writer, you are self-employed, regardless of whether or not you've made a profit.
With the end of the tax year approaching, I decided to skip the usual format and interview Elizabeth Klungness for this week's column. All of us can benefit from her information. If you didn't keep good records last year of your writing related expenses, you have enough time to develop a system for next year. After talking with Ms. Klungness, it's difficult to resist the temptation to use this space to tell you all about her, as she is a fascinating and remarkable woman. However, I know you want to see some of her great tax tips, so I will just give you an overview of her writing career then get on with it.
