Are You Serious? by Morgan Mandel

On the income tax theme -

Whether or not you've had a book published, if you can show the IRS that you're serious about writing, you have a good chance of being able to deduct expenses involved with following your passion.

First, try to make some money from your writing. If you haven't sold a book yet, see if you can make money by speaking on the subject at libraries or other venues where booklovers are present. Often, you'll get some sort of stipend for doing so. You can also send in articles online or to magazines and get paid for doing so.

If you do have a book out, any money you've made from that book will be included on your tax form, whether or not what you make from the book being published is more than the expenses you paid to get that book out.

Being the saver that I am, it's not hard for me to throw receipts for certain items in my special tax expenses container.

Some of these receipts are for:
Conference fees, software, office supplies, such as paper, toner or injet cartridges, and more, printers, computers, a writing desk, memory cards or sticks, fees for writing organizations, writing meetings over dinner, writing books.

You get the idea. There are so many expenses writers incur every year following their craft.
Think about making them work for you by including them on your tax forms.

Okay, I'm not a tax expert, so this is just a general post to put you on the right road. I advise you to consult a professional to be sure about these inclusions in your own particular case, but it's worth a thought if you haven't considered it.

What about you? Do you deduct for writing expenses? I certainly do and I've got a lot. Please share.