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Everything is Art, therefore, as a self-employed artist, Everything is Deductible. Feel free to peruse my monthly expense reports. You can see every creatively enduring and artistic purchase I made throughout the year 2002, which in a strange way, captures the history of ECS. for the past year. Financial statements offer one way of looking back on where you've been. I saved all my receipts, and wrote down how many miles I drove each and every day, but I didn't compile the reports until late March 2003. So I started by looking at receipts for the things I was buying a full year ago, and my memories of associated events came more easily into focus as I finished up the reports for the more recent months. I did not include copies of my mileage log, but I did look through it and remember going to many places where I spent money, or didn't, such as friends' houses. Although the IRS may view this daily project as a gimmick, it has actually been an insightful experience, one that has given me a new means for viewing my personal history, and it might not have even occurred to me if I hadn't been managing a internet company (Sonicpress.com) for two and a half years.
The following letter was included with my tax returns, to explain to the IRS why Everything is Deductible...
Everything is Art - ECS.
Ernest C. Smitten
artist
Internal Revenue Service
Washington D.C., USA
Dear Sir or Ma’am,
I am a self employed artist. I make art every day. That is my life, and that is my business. As expressed in my online gallery, one of my fundamental givens is that everything is art. In fact, my site is entitled, “Everything is Art,” and I encourage my fans and clients to find beauty in, inspiration in, and make associations with, everything and anything. Thus, the simple act of walking down the block in the afternoon, or purchasing a sno-cone on a cold day, is art. Even things that do not exist are art. Even things that have never been seen or heard are art. For instance, if there was a lost Van Gogh painting that was found one day in a dark corner of France, would it suddenly become art on the day that it was found? or was it art all along? Certainly the planets of our solar system are amazing works of art, and it is known that there are many, many more celestial bodies of which no human yet has knowledge. Yet who would dare to purport that these countless undiscovered places do not qualify as art? Nothing can exist, or even fail to exist, without some brilliant accident or careful hand causing it to be, or to not be, nor can anything fail to interact in some potentially interesting way with something else. Indeed, every action, every circumstance, every idea and dream, and every exchange of money, is art.
It is in this context that I claim every expense as a deduction. Because I am a self employed artist, and everything is art, it follows that every expense I incur is a part of my business – which is making art. And being that my expenses far outweigh my measly income, I am due back all taxes that have been withheld for the year 2002. My online gallery is always expanding, and currently features works in the categories of mixed media, oil painting, music, photography, performance art, web design, poetry, and film. By the time you read this letter, it will also be included in my online gallery, as it is also art.
For verification of everything stated above, please feel free to view my online gallery, Everything is Art – ECS. http://www.sonicpress.com/ecs
Thank you for your time.
havefun
ECS.
Ernest Celsius Smitten
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