It’s not often you are treated to live music at an ASIFA-East event, and it makes it doubly special that our special guest was not only a talented song-writer but a fully certified CPA at that! Introducing, Steven Zelin, the Singing CPA! Steven has been speaking and singing at our annual Taxes for Artists for three years running now. Steven is a certified public accountant with a unique gift for creating compelling song parody on what is often a mundane topic. Opening the night with “If You Don’t Like Paying Taxes (Clap Your Hands)”, and ”When You’re Filing”, Steven discussed deductions for freelancers, retirement planning, the importance of record keeping, estimated taxes, and the MCTMT tax. One of those deductions is health insurance. The majority of freelancers and small business owners do purchase their own health insurance. As a Sole Proprietor or a Single Member LLC, this is deductible as an adjustment to your adjusted gross income on your individual 1040 tax return. Cobra payments count as well. What else is deductible? Specifically things that are business related. Things like travel, phone/communication, accountant fees, professional dues and memberships (like ASIFA-East’s dues), business meals and entertainment, automobile expenses, office supplies,...
