{"id":1063,"date":"2014-02-17T11:26:52","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T19:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2014-02-17T11:26:52","modified_gmt":"2014-02-17T19:26:52","slug":"today-in-tax-advice-the-winner-takes-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/today-in-tax-advice-the-winner-takes-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in tax advice: the winner takes it all"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"you<\/a>The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a> on Swedish tax incentives:<\/p>\n

The glittering hotpants, sequined jumpsuits and platform heels that\u00a0Abba\u00a0wore at the peak of their fame were designed not just for the four band members to stand out \u2013 but also for tax efficiency, according to claims over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the group’s sartorial record in a new book, Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus said: “In my honest opinion we looked like nuts in those years. Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were.”<\/p>\n

And the reason for their bold\u00a0fashion\u00a0choices lay not just in the pop glamour of the late 70s and early 80s, but also in the Swedish tax code.<\/p>\n

According to Abba: The Official Photo Book<\/em>, published to mark 40 years since they won Eurovision with Waterloo, the band’s style was influenced in part by laws that allowed the cost of outfits to be deducted against tax \u2013 so long as the costumes were so outrageous they could not possibly be worn on the street.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually, US incentives don’t seem all that different. TurboTax advises<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Determine which work clothes are necessary for your job but not suitable to wear outside of work. However, just buying clothes specifically for work and never wearing them at any other time isn’t good enough. The IRS has accepted deductions for theatrical costumes, hard hats and other safety gear. Among the items that do not qualify are overalls, white dress shirts, and bibs even if required on the job site. For example, even though your company requires you to wear a suit each day, you cannot deduct their cost since you can wear the suits to weddings, job interviews and other occasions that don’t relate to work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian reports on Swedish tax incentives: The glittering hotpants, sequined jumpsuits and platform heels that\u00a0Abba\u00a0wore at the peak of their fame were designed not just for the four band members to stand out \u2013 but also for tax efficiency, according to claims over the weekend. Reflecting on the group’s sartorial record in a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/abba.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-h9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1170,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/taxing-music-downloads\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":0},"title":"Taxing Music Downloads","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Europeans have been able to avoid high home-country tax rates on downloads of songs and books by purchasing through Luxembourg. The UK wants to put a stop to that. The Guardian reports: George Osborne's latest\u00a0budget\u00a0could spell an end to 99p song\u00a0downloads\u00a0by closing a tax loophole that meant consumers were paying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"get your downloads here","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Luxembourg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1067,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/today-in-film-tax-credits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":1},"title":"Today in film tax credits (Updated December 2, 2014)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It never ends: production companies asking for, and getting, tax credits for local production when the economic case is cloudy, to say the least. The Washington Post reports: A few weeks before\u00a0Season 2 of \u201cHouse of Cards\u201d\u00a0debuted online, the show\u2019s production company sent Maryland Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley\u00a0a letter with this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"created six thousand jobs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Maryland-film-tax-credit.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1756,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/12\/should-nonprofit-museums-have-free-admission-because-they-are-tax-exempt\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":2},"title":"Should nonprofit museums have free admission because they are tax exempt?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"No. But Christopher Knight\u00a0at the LA Times thinks they should: Yes, every art museum needs multiple sources of revenue. It does cost money to run the place. However, because they are tax exempt, art museums already count the public as a major, indirect source of revenue. Required admission fees add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"And everybody should have one","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pony.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pony.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pony.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pony.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/pony.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":646,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/04\/limiting-the-charitable-deduction\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":3},"title":"Limiting the charitable deduction","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As my blog-neighbor Lee Rosenbaum reports, the proposed 2014 budget from the White House would cap the tax benefit for charitable donations at 28%. In the U.S., where donations are deducted from the income tax base, the actual rate at which your donation is subsidized is your marginal tax rate,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/04\/limiting-the-charitable-deduction\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"marginal rates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/1040of1913-219x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1148,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/tax-relief-for-british-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":4},"title":"Tax relief for British theatre (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The budget just announced by the British government provides for significant tax relief for live performing arts. Here are reports from The Stage, The Telegraph, and The Independent. The Stage gives details as follows: The scheme will mean producers are able to claim up to a 25% tax rebate on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"how shall we spend it?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Blithe-Spirit-at-the-Schu-002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3667,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2024\/12\/on-indirect-support-for-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1063,"position":5},"title":"On “indirect” support for the arts","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Thomas Wolf has\u00a0posted a short piece\u00a0on the history of the National Endowment for the Arts, whether it is likely to survive the coming second Trump administration, and the tax deduction for charitable contributions. I\u2019m going to focus on that last bit\u2026 People who itemize their income tax deductions can claim\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-3.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}