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These deductions are a particularly contentious issue between the IRS and the performer. From our perspective as performers, there is no way that an actor can maintain an understanding of the projects being cast on Network TV, Cable TV, Films and/or live Theatre without taking on the costs of viewing the productions. The problem is that the IRS views these items as entertainment, which in fact they are for everyone, including the performer who has the obvious additional requirement to stay current with the market. The argument that we are not looking at these productions from the same perspective as the normal audience does little to change the minds of the IRS alone. Where then does the actor and the IRS reach any agreement? The highlighted portions in the opposite column, drawn directly from the IRS regulations, offer you an understanding of what you must be able to prove to receive any amount of deduction for these items. The primary requirement is written documentation of what was learned by watching each event or how the event DIRECTLY related to to a particular need generated either by a class or an audition. Obviously this causes two problems--documenting in writing what you learned may be like proving a negative plus how do we relate that understanding to future auditions? Few performers know what the next week's or month's auditions may be for. In fact we usually don't learn what auditions we may have until the day before the actual opportunity and by then it is far too late to suddenly rent all of Steven Speilberg's films (let alone less familiar directors) because he may be directing the project you will be auditioning for. As every casting director will tell you, it is your responsibility to have watched every program on television at least once so that you are aware of the major recurring characters and the style of the piece. How do you watch television almost anywhere in today's market without paying for cable. Then add the fact that most of the premium channels (Showtime, HBO, etc) are producing many of the projects you will be auditioning for? When Lifetime, Hallmark and even the Animal Channel are producing original programming today, you MUST be paying for cable to know the marketplace. Now that we have made the argument to the IRS for you, the bottom line is that you must keep ALL of your receipts or checks for the payment of this instruction PLUS be able to "identify how the movie or play directly applied to his or her career at the time through the appropriate documentation." What's the solution? It will vary from auditor to auditor but we urge all of our clients to keep complete records of what the costs of their viewing expenses were and then expect to be able to write off less than half of what those records indicate. This allows for the entertainment value of the productions you viewed. BUT never forget the responsibility to tie the lessons you learned from a program, film or play to written records of the specific educational benefits you derived from the experience.
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