Tax Time for Music Teachers

It’s almost that time again. Whether you’re a seasoned private teacher with years of tax experience under your belt, or if you’re brand new to the scene and are sitting in a pile of unorganized receipts, you’re probably staring down those confusing tax documents and wishing that they would magically complete themselves.

After nine years of teaching private lessons, I’m still learning about tax deductions and how to make the most of my tax return. I’ve learned to become very organized. Every week I enter my receipts into an excel sheet, which I’ve divided into categories for tax purposes. I keep a close eye on my business bank account to make sure that I remember to enter any monthly fees, such as Dropbox or Tonic Tutor games.

… and most importantly, I let a professional file my taxes.

Remember – the money that you’ll pay for someone to look over your well-organized (or not-s0-well-organized) taxes is tax deductible. You know what isn’t tax deductible? Doing your own taxes and running the risk of missing tax deductions and possibly making a mistake.

Here are a few great resources that I’ve run across in music blogs and music teacher websites. If you’re just starting out as a Sole Proprietor or LLC, and you want to get familiar various deductions, I hope these will prove very helpful. Even if you’re a seasoned veteran, you might find something that you missed over the years.

Making Music Fun – 10 Tax Saving Tips for Private Music Teachers

UCM – Secrets of a Music Teacher – Looking for Tax Deductions (PDF)

NAMTA – A Few Tax Tips for Teachers

Allegro – All Tax Tips for Musicians and Tax Time!

The Melodeon – Tax Advice for Piano Teachers

The Washington Post – Tax Time: Small Business Tax Advice

WenJen Piano Blog – Tax Tips for Piano Teachers