[Dixielandjazz] Under the radar

[Talegatorz at aol.com]

Hello Larry,
The short form basically has a slot for what you take in and one for what 
goes out. 
So disbursments are included. I pay on net income, not gross. Most of the 
guys around here probably fly under the radar figuring they don't make enough to 
matter. 
I disagree. But this is such a backwater, that it probably just isn't enough 
to really matter. My most regular tuba player  last year made a bit less than 
$500 with me. 
No 1099 has yet been required and he reports his income too. This year, he 
just cleared that threshold by a couple of hundred, so he'll get one and will be 
fully cooperative. I also do solo work, teaching, radio commercials, 
conducting the community band and working with other performers and this all amounts 
to much more than I earn with my own little outfit. Yet, it all adds up and is 
mixed together on the one schedule. I also file an SE form. Failure to file 
this is seems to be what trips up most who have outside income. An accountant 
set this system up for me years ago and this has never been a problem. 
Thankfully, my wife has a great job with good health insurance. 

Your story reminds me of a client of mine back in the Seventies when my day 
job  was selling pro sound equipment. His name popped up when one of his 
regular club gigs was audited. He too was flying under the radar. The IRS estimated 
his back tax liability for as long as he had been at it, assuming that he was 
working five nights a week. They were claiming hundreds of thousands in back 
taxes from a guy who really had no pot to piss in. They took all his PA, 
instruments, TV and car just for starters and I sold him some well worn used gear on 
time to get him started again. He had kept no records at all, (hippie 
ethics), and his fellow band members scattered like rats off a sinking ship. 
I don't know whatever became of him, but he's probably still paying.
Thank you Larry for your comments,

Regards,

Gus Bloch