Your Miami Tax Guide: Yes, You Can Deduct That Pina Colada

After a few weeks diligently absorbing the dark, awful post-election news, I’m ready to turn my attention to fun, sun, and travel deductions for the Miami art fairs.

To review the basics, if you’re a professional artist with a profit motive, you’re reporting your income each year on a Schedule C (as part of your 1040 form), and the beauty in that is that it entitles you to list your income and your expenses. So as a self-employed person, you are paying taxes on the difference between those numbers (aka your “profit,” which is income – expenses), and not on the gross income you receive.

Travel expenses incurred in your arts business are one of the great deductions that you are allowed. A note of caution before you go expensing a bunch of luxury accommodations though: by law, your business expenses must be “ordinary and necessary” to qualify. This means that if the industry standard is a Motel 6, and you book the Ritz-Carlton, you may deduct only the Motel 6 amount. Further, travel expenses are a tempting area for tax abuse (along with meals and entertainment and home studios). If yours are out of proportion with the size of your business, or compared to your peers, you have an excellent chance of being audited.

Warnings aside, travel deductions are a great benefit, and here is how to make the most of them, in time for the Miami art fairs.

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