Deductions & credits

You will find this deduction under the Job-Related Expenses category (Federal Taxes -> Deductions and Credits -> Employment Expenses -> Job-Related Expenses.  You can also use the search function inside the program and search for "2106" and this will bring you directly to the job-related expense category section.

  • Begin the section by answering all the appropriate questions and entering all your expenses into the categories presented.  
  • After you enter your expenses, you will get to a screen that asks “Any Special situations?” and “A Qualified Performing Artist” will be one of the options.
  • Select Yes and proceed to the next screen where the program will ask “Did your job-related expenses fall into any of these categories?
  • Enter the amount of the job-related expenses that you have entered that qualify as performing artist expenses.
  • Proceed with the rest of the section
  • You should now see your qualifying performing artist expenses as an adjustment to your Form 1040 on line 24

Just to review and for information:

Qualified performing artist.

You are a qualified performing artist if you:
  1. Performed services in the performing arts as an employee for at least two employers during the tax year,
  2. Received from at least two of those employers wages of $200 or more per employer,
  3. Had allowable business expenses attributable to the performing arts of more than 10% of gross income from the performing arts, and
  4. Had adjusted gross income of $16,000 or less before deducting expenses as a performing artist.
For more information, see Form 2106 Instructions