Can performing artists deduct work expenses?

Why this is a narrow exception

Since 2018 most employees cannot deduct unreimbursed job expenses at all, because miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% floor are suspended. Publication 463 (2025) says Form 2106 is now used only by Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis state or local government officials, and employees with impairment-related work expenses. A qualified performing artist is the one group that is defined by income and number of jobs rather than by a type of employer, which is why so many working actors, musicians and dancers search for it. The deduction is also unusual in how it is claimed: it is an adjustment to gross income, so you get it whether or not you itemize.

The four requirements, one at a time

The publication lists four tests, and you must meet all of them. First, during the tax year you perform services in the performing arts as an employee for at least two employers. Second, you receive at least $200 each from any two of those employers. Third, your related performing-arts business expenses are more than 10% of your gross income from performing those services. Fourth, your adjusted gross income is not more than $16,000 before deducting those business expenses.

Read the wording closely. The two-employer test counts employers, not gigs. The $200 test is met by any two of the employers, so a third employer that paid less than $200 does not hurt you. The 10% test is “more than,” so expenses exactly equal to 10% fail, and the base is gross income from the performing services, not your whole income. The AGI cap is tested before the expenses come off, which means the deduction is aimed at low-income artists.

A worked example

A dancer works as an employee for three companies in a year and is paid $6,000, $4,500 and $150. She earned $10,650 gross from performing, and her AGI before expenses is $10,650. Her related performing-arts expenses, after any 50% meal limit, total $1,400. Check the tests: she worked for at least two employers (yes, three); two of them paid $200 or more (yes, $6,000 and $4,500); expenses must exceed 10% of $10,650, which is $1,065, and $1,400 does; and AGI is under $16,000. All four are met, so the $1,400 goes to Schedule 1, line 12. Enter 3, 2, 1400, 10650 and 10650 above to see each test reported separately.

Change the expenses to $1,000 and the third test fails, so the deduction is $0. This cliff behavior is why the 10% test is worth checking before you spend time on Form 2106. Meal expenses included in the total are still limited to 50% before they reach Form 2106, line 10.

Married couples

If you are married, you must file a joint return unless you lived apart from your spouse at all times during the tax year. If you file jointly, the first three requirements are figured separately for you and for your spouse, but the $16,000 limit applies to your combined adjusted gross income. That last point surprises couples where only one spouse is an artist: the other spouse’s wages count toward the cap.

Where it goes on the return

The publication’s steps are short. If you meet all four requirements, first complete Form 2106. Then include your performing-arts-related expenses from Form 2106, line 10, in the total on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 12. If you do not meet all of them, you do not qualify to deduct the expenses as an adjustment to gross income.

Reimbursements change the arithmetic. If your employer reimbursed you under an accountable plan and the amounts were not in box 1, you enter them on Form 2106 and only the unreimbursed portion benefits you. The publication’s per diem examples are set with performing artists as the characters: in one, an employer paid $90 a day for four days against a federal rate of $80, so $40 went into box 1 as wages and $320 under code L in box 12.

Self-employed performers

This rule is for employees. Publication 463 says that if you are self-employed you do not file Form 2106 and instead report your expenses on Schedule C or Schedule F. A performer paid on a 1099 basis is on that path, not this one, and the $16,000 test does not apply.

Sources

• IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (2025): Chapter 6, Completing Form 2106; Special Rules, Expenses of Certain Performing Artists; Reimbursements (Form 2106 caution). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 463 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Rates and dollar limits on this page are the 2025 figures printed in that edition; check the current publication, form instructions and GSA.gov per diem tables for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.