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Level 2
posted Feb 1, 2022 9:33:04 PM

Last year I listed "music composition" as a line of work and listed expenses related to it. Should I amend my return?

Hi,

 

I am not a professional musician but in 2019 I tried to make money by making royalty-free music and selling it online. I purchased many software and plug-ins costing me ~$1400. Even though I did make music and uploaded it to online royalty-free marketplaces, I never got paid. (Funny but I sold only for $30 and because of it was under $50 they never wired me any money)

 

In my 2020 return, I listed "Music Composition" as a line of work and added my software/plugin expenses to my return. Since I did not have any income, all of the expenses were a loss. (I'm a software developer (with W2) so those expenses caused me pay less tax than I'm supposed pay, I guess)

 

Unfortunately I've figured it wasn't that easy to expense "hobby-ish" music production expenses. Should I amend my 2020 return? I think I can do it online, right? Any help is appreciated. 

 

Thank you!

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1 Replies
Expert Alumni
Feb 2, 2022 5:28:40 AM

If you started in 2020 with the intent to make money, it is OK to report your business expenses even you did not have income.

 

Like a lot of businesses, you stopped in 2021 as the market did not turn out as you thought..

 

In these conditions, you do not need to amend your 2020 return.