@musician98 wrote:
Work on the side as a musician. How do I deduct expenses for instrument maintenance/supplies? Do they go under Repairs/Maintenance and/or Supply Expense?
The descriptions of those expense types don't fit my situation. Repairs/Maintenance is about building maintenance. Supply Expense basically lists office supplies. Not sure if my expenses (repairing violin, purchasing strings and other supplies) count under those listed categories or if they should go under "Miscellaneous" on the later page.
"Work on the side as a musician..."
You didn't specify if you are an employee in your work or self-employed/independent contractor, or if you do both.
In this answer I'll assume you are preparing a Schedule C for self-employed/independent contractor. If you are an employee, the answer would be different.
Under Business Expenses you can use the miscellaneous "other expenses" section for anything that doesn't neatly fit into one of the suggested expense categories, and it lets you annotate to describe each "other expense." Such as this example:
Instrument repair $325
Accessories/supplies $160
Professional publications $65
Professional dues $125 (see note below)
NOTE: Do you have any musician union dues related to your self-employment income? And are you also sometimes an employee on some gigs instead of an independent contractor? If so, you can allocate between the 2 situations and deduct the portion of your dues related to your self-employed income. You may need to also allocate for other expenses in a similar manner, if you work in both types of situations (employee and independent contractor.)
