When you enter your income first, shouldn't the software be able to quickly know that I'm not qualified for this deduction?
So why does Turbo Tax allow me to use the Performing Artist Deduction if my household income is above $16,000?
Maybe the wording could be more clear, and perhaps I missed the "and" while I was deep into the funtastic doldrums of my household tax return, but I qualified for 3 of the 4 the following stipulations...
Qualified performing artist.
You are a qualified performing artist if you:
- Performed services in the performing arts as an employee for at least two employers during the tax year,
- Received from at least two of those employers wages of $200 or more per employer,
- Had allowable business expenses attributable to the performing arts of more than 10% of gross income from the performing arts, and
- Had adjusted gross income of $16,000 or less before deducting expenses as a performing artist.
In addition to a simple software fix (see first sentence above), some simple wording could be added (i.e. "YOU MUST ANSWER YES TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING TO QUALIFY") to avoid an IRS audit.
On 11/01/2021, I received an audit for my 2019 taxes due to this wording and very simple software error, and now I will probably be audited for 2020 as well. If I had known I couldn't deduct these VERY COMMON business expenses, I would have definitely started an S-corp in 2020, to avoid this tax liability.
Please fix this error, as I'm sure I'm not the only person who has been audited for this very simple reason. I shudder to think what taxes and penalties lie ahead for everyone like me.
If there is an elegant solution to this issue, I'm all ears, but WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR THIS SOFTWARE, IF THIS VERY SIMPLE SOFTWARE ERROR RESULTS IN US BEING UNNECESSARILY AUDITED?
