The New Tax Guide for Artists of Every Persuasion: Actors, Directors, Musicians, Singers, and Other Show Biz Folks (Limelight) Review

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(More customer reviews)The New Tax Guide for Artists of Every Persuasion: Actors, Musicians, Singers and Other Showbiz Folk, Visual Artists and Writers, by Peter Jason Riley, CPA is an indespensible tool, that I'm glad and relieved to have found.This book isn't meant to be a substitute for the advice and skill of a professional accountant and it doesn't give you a step-by-step of how to fill out tax forms.You don't have to be a millionaire, it's okay if you still have a 9 to 5 job, and it's okay, if you're not on a national show or whatever, and it's okay if it's not a regular source of income... if you spend money while pursuing work in an arts-related field (whether it be headshots, guitars and picks, ballet shoes, paintbrushes, or faxes) and you can prove that you at least occasionally make or have the potential to make money from your art (sales of your work via CD, DVD, etc), pay from contracted jobs, etc), you owe it to yourself to explore the legitimate options which can relieve tax stress from your personal filings, or to help improve your efficiency if you're already claiming expenses for your art on your tax returns.

This book meant to give you a better idea of the nature of tax-related issues for working artists, to make it a little less daunting, to show you how to keep proper records in an efficient way, to reduce errors and penalties, reduce taxes on legitimate business expenses, and even to cut down the time and money you would spend with a tax advisor.Even if you can't afford to see a CPA for a current tax year, what you will learn from Mr. Riley's book will prove invaluable and eye-opening as to pointing out the considerations you should be aware of when doing your taxes yourself (but remember, it's probably always going to be better to have a pro look at it.).

Mr. Riley's book is essentially an update of the book "New Tax Guide for Performers, Writers, Directors, Designers, and Other Showbiz Folk", written by the late of R. Brenden Hanlon.Since Hanlon had been deceased for some time, it could not beupdated with the information artists would need to stay current with tax laws.Mr. Riley contacted the publisher and worked with them to make a follow up to Mr. Hanlon's original, with the same goal - to help Entertainers and other artists to understand taxes better.As noted from Mr. Riley's longer title, the book strives and succeeds at being even more detailed, while accounting for the variety of artist types.

After a brief introduction, Riley provides two chapters that every reader is advised to dig into.These chapters cover what you need to know about Income - the different types, the basic forms involved, how self-employment taxes are calculated, estimating advance tax payments, and then all the different types of deductions you can make (from a percentage of your home expenses, if you work from home, to travel, equipment, start-up costs and more).Mr. Riley gives crucial tips such as what, how much, and when to write off certain items.

The next set of chapters are presented almost in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" manner.If you're a musician... read the musician chapter.If you're an writer... read the writer chapter.And so on.Each of those chapters address the specific considerations, rules and benefits as they apply to your specific profession, followed by links to Internet resources and a handy Expense checklist, as it applies to your work and which you can copy and use during the year.As the different deduction types are listed, with descriptions, Mr. Riley was also kind enough to note beside each one, what types of recordkeeping you should be prepared to have on hand to verify the amounts, should you be audited later.After you've read the chapter of your profession, there are closing chapters for all readers.These cover how to set up your business properly (from a legal standpoint), how the audit process works, how to keep great records to verify your claims in the event of an audit, and your rights as a taxpayer.It also covers how to choose a tax advisor, and how to plan the timing of deductions, as well as your retirement.
It's capped off with an Appendix filled with more expense report spreadsheets you can use for your recordkeeping, and even a handy mileage reference sheet, for those of you who tour or otherwise commute to different cities by automotive transportation.I first learned of Peter Jason Riley from his awesome Website, which is also listed in the book.Like the book, Riley's Website has different sections addressed to different entertainer types... but you can actually download the spreadsheets in Excel format, already preformatted so that you can just enter in the numbers from your receipts, W-2s, 1099s, etc, and the calculations will already be done for you... you then just print that out, and take that and your receipts to your tax preparer... and you should be good to go.

The only thing the book is truly missing from being even more valuable is an index page.There is a table of contents, which is helpful, but in cases where you might want to reference something specific, such as the specific forms/schedules that you would be making the deductions on, or a certain term, you may have to painstakingly re-read a chapter to find the info that you need.Not to be nit-picky... as it certainly would be a lot of work (and extra pages) for a book on a complex topic, but the problem is just that in most sections of the book, there are no paragraph breaks, making it more difficult to spot some passages that you might be looking to reference.

The version I have reviewed is the First Limelight Edition, published in January 2002.I needed the book in a hurry, and the newer edition wasn't in stock at the time I ordered, so I went with the older one.But I did find this book to be so helpful and am still learning a good deal from it about a month and a half after purchase, that I do still plan on buying the updated version.

All in all, I think this book would make a great companion to any books that do address how to actually approach filling out forms, or even to help you along if you're using a service or software like TurboTax or something similar.

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Peter Jason Riley is a CPA who for many years has practiced in the Boston area. His book opens with basic material that applies to everyone, offering a roadmap through today's tax landscape and general discussions of different types of income, various kinds of expenses and IRS-allowed tax deductions. Following are the chapters that deal with the specific tax situation relevant to each category of artist. These range from the cost of acting lessons and makeup through depreciation of guitars and the maintenance of home studios to income from teaching jobs and royalties. In the final sections of the book, Riley considers various ways performers and other arts professionals can reduce their taxes, explains how to prepare for an audit, and suggests ways to locate, evaluate, choose and effectively work with a professional arts-oriented tax advisor.

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Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz As Told by the Men Who Made It Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great introduction to Jazz History foranyone just becoming interested in the subject.Anyone who has been into jazz for some time whohasn't read "Hear Me Talkin' To Ya" yet ismissing a realtreat.This is full of facinatinginformation, and is a great read.
The book is wonderfull and colorfull look at theorigins anddevelopment of jazz music from New Orleans at the start of the 1900s to thestartof BeBop in New York mid-century.As the fulltitle states, thisis "The Story of Jazz AsTold By The Men [and Women] who MadeIt". This is a compilation of excerpts frominterviews, letters,autobiographies, andarticles with jazz musicians, both greatsand lesswell known musicians who have goodstories to tell.Louis Armstrong, BunkJohnson, Sidney Bechet, Danny Barker, Hoagy Carmichael, Jelly RollMorton, Mary Lou Williams, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Hinton,Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck, and many others havetheir say.
Highlyrecomended!
-- DCM ("Froggy")

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"A work of considerable substance." - The New Yorker. In this marvelous oral history, the words of such legends as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Billy Holiday trace the birth, growth, and changes in jazz over the years. Includes excerpts from hundreds of personal interviews, letters, tapes, and articles.

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The Battle of Brazil: Terry Gilliam v. Universal Pictures in the Fight to the Final Cut (The Applause Screenplay Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Based on the reviews so far, I bought this book from Amazon.com and received it yesterday. It was so gripping, I finished it that evening. After seeing films like THE PLAYER and talking to aquaintences who likepredictable movies with happy endings, I figured the big studiosdiscouraged original, thought-provoking films. But this book shows how theytry to rationalize it. I liked how Jack Mathews tried to be objective andshow both sides and I was amazed at the differences between LA and NYcritics and how they affect films. Talk about too many cooks in thekitchen!
Even if you don't think much of the film BRAZIL, if you loveinteresting films and want to know why it's rare to see one come out, readthis book. I'm sure Terry Gilliam isn't alone in his battles with studiosand critics. If you did like BRAZIL, you'll also get a glimpse of Gilliam'screativity with some of his storyboards, plus you get the entire script ofthe film with some annotations. After reading this book, I got a greatbehind-the-scenes look of not only how a film comes about, but how it getsmarketed to the public as well.

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The totally restored, revamped and researched blow-by-blow recounting of the most spectacular title bout in the blood-soaked history of Hollywood. "This book documents in rare detail the back-room haggling and the attempted ego-bashing that is part of the movie business." - Gene Siskel; "Told with the passion of an advocate yet with the objectivity of a crack reporter, The Battle of Brazil is a chilling, inevitably hilarious account of a great film that almost got away." - USA Today.

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The Simplified Fake Book (Fake Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been teaching myself the piano for a year and with this book I actually sound like I know what I am doing!! Very fun, my family is impressed.

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The sequel to Your First Fake Book and The Easy Fake Book, this new collection includes 100 favorite songs all in the key of C, complete with lyrics and simplified chords that remain true to each tune. It also features convenient stay-open binding, introductions to make the arrangements sound more polished, and large, easy-to-read music notation that beginning or older players will love! The songs come from all musical genres - standards, rock, Broadway and the movies, love songs and more - and include: Bad, Bad Leroy Brown * Besame Mucho * Change the World * Could I Have This Dance * Crying * Danny Boy * Endless Love * Fever * Fire and Rain * Fly Me to the Moon * From a Distance * Heartbreak Hotel * I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face * It's a Small World * More * Piano Man * The Rainbow Connection * Sentimental Journey * So Far Away * Sunshine on My Shoulders * That's Amore * There's No Business like Show Business * A Time for Us * Twist and Shout * Unexpected Song * Yellow Submarine * You Are My Sunshine * You'll Be in My Heart * and many more!

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The Complete Beatles Gift Pack (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)Virtually every Beatles song ever recorded appears in this two-volume set. It includes even some of the Beatles cover songs such as "Kansas City" and "A Taste of Honey".
What you get are the standard sheet music versions of these songs, nicely printed and easy to read. The book is at an intermediate level. Typical Hal Leonard scores: a base line in the spirit of the recording, chords voiced in the center and melody on top. Not always very pianistic, but the songs are transcribed pretty well harmonically. Also tab is included and of course lyrics. Some of the songs include the Beatles solo, fills or intros. For instance the instrumetal part of Polythene Pam, Savoy Truffle or Yer Blues. All the songs I've played so far except "Penny Lane" are in the key they were recorded in. It seems "Penny Lane" is in B, the music is in C.
If you want to know every note the Beatles played, get the "The Beatles Complete Scores" also sold by Amazon.com.However, to me its hard to read and not really playable. So if you just want to just get in and play, this is preferable.
It's quite a luxury to have not just thier hits but all their music together. After playing something like "Let it Be" you can just turn a few pages and delve into something you'd never expect to play like "Piggies", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or virtually play through all of "Abbey Road". While the Beatles aren't Gods to me, it really hits you how talented these guys were when you've got it all in front of you like this.

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This set features both Volumes 1 and 2 of Beatles Complete in an attractive hard case with deluxe foil lettering. Includes over 200 classic songs, including: All My Loving * And I Love Her * Baby You're a Rich Man * Back in the U.S.S.R. * Birthday * Blackbird * Can't Buy Me Love * Come Together * The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill * A Day in the Life * Day Tripper * Do You Want to Know a Secret? * Drive My Car * Eleanor Rigby * The End * The Fool on the Hill * Get Back * A Hard Day's Night * Help! * Helter Skelter * Here Comes the Sun * I Saw Her Standing There * I Wanna Be Your Man * I Want to Hold Your Hand * Lady Madonna * Let It Be * Magical Mystery Tour * Nowhere Man * Penny Lane * Revolution * Something * Strawberry Fields Forever * Twist and Shout * and more. A perfect gift for any Beatles fan or collector!

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