Musicians, scholars, orchestras, and the public rely on numerous tax provisions that strengthen the creative sector. Congress should support provisions in upcoming tax technical corrections bills or other future relevant legislation that would provide tangible assistance to artists, cultural communities, and in turn, the public. We urge Congress to enact the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which would allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work when they donate it to charitable collecting institutions and to reinstate deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses. Further, we urge Congress to update the qualified performing artist tax deduction by supporting the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act of 2021 (S.2872 / H.R.4750), and reinstate deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses.

Talking Points

• The Artist-Museum Partnership Act would encourage new gifts by living composers and conductors, including original manuscripts, marked scores, and performance notes. For composers and conductors considering whether to contribute their works and archives to a charitable organization or to make them available to private collectors, the ability to take a fair-market value tax deduction may be the key incentive that allows the artist to contribute their work to a nonprofit cultural organization.
• Across occupations, comprehensive tax reform passed into law in 2017 eliminated the opportunity to deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses that exceed 2% of adjusted gross income. For musicians who are employees, this means that the costs of supplies, instruments, professional dues, and other expenses essential to employment are no longer tax-deductible. This deduction should be reinstated.
   

Please review our complete two-page issue brief which contains more details and provisions we would like Congress to support.