I would bet most young dancers feel the same about filing taxes. "hey this dancing gig is great - it's tax free money". Its not until they go to but a car or a house or rent an apartment that they find out it's not that easy
No having a pay check stub or a 1099 can present problems. But dancers I know have found alternatives. If you have enough cash, you can usually get whatever you want. There is also a whole shadow economy that operates on an all cash and no tax basis. Dancers only need to talk to other dancers or DJ's or drug dealers to find landlords who will rent to strippers and take payment in cash. These landlords, it has been alleged, do not report all of their rental income on their taxes.
Thats a great point. I knew a dancer who left her boyfriend so had to find her own place. Thru another dancer she got hooked up with a female landlord who was an ex stripper. Rent was all cash.
Other governments have tried to suppress the cash economy and have succeeded only in driving it underground. I prefer cash myself, but more on privacy and convenience grounds rather than as a way to evade taxes.
I've been self employed before and I've reported all of my income on my taxes, even the cash income that couldn't be proven or tracked. That's the only way I was able to get a mortgage to buy a house, my income tax return and my bank statements proved that I had enough cash flow to make the payments. At the time I bought my car with cash. It wasn't a very nice car, but I didn't have a monthly payment.
The problem is that when the dancer files the income tax return for 2011 she might be facing quite a bill. Because if she declares enough income to satisfy the landlord she may wind up paying both a substantial quantity of self-employment tax plus interest.
On the other hand if she has dependent minor children she might wind up with an EITC that will wipe out most of it or even result in a refund.
There are so many things in life that require proof of income: credit card, car loan, morgage / lease. I don't know how you can get by long term without proof of income. Heck, most 'real' jobs do a credit check on you before hiring you to get a sense of what you are like.
(OT, but IMO the same goes for photo ID. You can't drive, fly, or IME get a 'real' job without proof of your ID. How f-ing hard is it to bring you ID with you to vote? Odds are you drove to the polling place.)
As for stripper, I think it's fair to assume that most if not all are independent contractors. So, I would think that she could file same as being self-employed and generate her own 1099 or whatever. The down side is of course owing taxes and penalties.
The thing I don't get is, most clubs I frequent in PA keep a very close tab on the number of dances sold by each dancer. The main reason they do this is becasue they take a cut of each dance. However, I also think they are somewhat doing this becasue they have to pay their business taxes, right? They need a paper trail for their business income, right? It seems like they should be able to (or even have to) generate a 1099 for the corresponding cut that goes to each dancer. That's not going to cover tips, but I would think every money hungery state (and fed) government would force the club to keep tabs on the dancer's income as well as a condition of being allowed to operate.
1099's are a form that is generated by someone to report to the IRS money that they paid to someone else that was not employee compensation. The person/company who receives the money can't generate the form, it has to be generated by the person/company who made the payments. When you're self employed, and most strippers technically are self employed because they're independent contractors, you are required to self report your income. It doesn't matter of the people who are paying you report what they paid you to the IRS, you are still legally obligated to report your real income to the IRS.
I suspect that most strip clubs cheat on their taxes. It's a cash business and there is no way that it's possible to track how much revenue they have. They report their revenue to the government, but the government can't prove or track that revenue unless the owner is stupid and reports that he earned $15,000 in profit while buying a new house and two new cars with cash.
The problem for dancers is that often the club is technically a partnership of sorts. The dancer is their own business entity and the club is it's own business entity. I believe dancer's do not really understand the in's and out's on this.
A dancer is often not a sub-contractor to a club (otherwise the club would be paying THEM instead of them paying the club.) I admit this is something that really burns me up about strip clubs, because in other showbiz areas, well, think of the dancer as pretty much the talent renting a venue, like a rock band renting a stage. Dancers get bamboozled thinking they work for the club when really it is the club is working for her. (Of course, even for other artists, if one is too unreliable, they won't do business with you.)
So, not only do I get a chuckle out of the pink author thinking she is owed a 1099, but also that the pink author is suppose to make one out for the club. She is really out of her league with this stuff.
Wow, that stripper is pretty fucking dumb. She thinks she can fill out her own Form 1099? LOL.
I know a stripper who constantly sells her designer clothes, shoes, furniture on the local craigslist and does not even get a good resale value on them. I told her to get on eBay; she'd be able to get a better resale percentage from a broader audience. I think you need a bank account for Paypal, something I doubt she has.
I sense that a lot of dancers think they can get away without paying taxes, since all their earnings are in cash. I know of two very successful dancers that when the subject of taxes comes up, they are obviously very nervous, try to change the subject, or get out of the conversation. I've tried to convince them that when it comes to April 15th each year, it's better to give than to deceive.
^^^
How very true. My former ATF of many years ago, whom I spent lots of money on, actually admitted me to me that her delusional paranoid boyfriend thought I was an IRS agent trying to set him up to go to jail. LOL. I think he was smoking WAY too much weed.
The biggest problem is if they are not paying their social security taxes, they can't really expect much in the future. (Yes, I have questions about SS existing in the future too, but ya never know.)
I just took the time to follow the discussion over at the girls' site. There is one older contributor over there who has a brain and knowledge but for the majority of the girls posting in this thread?.............
Yikes! How do these creatures survive in our economy?
I won't discuss myself but my friends don't report all of their income. They report enough to show that they do have earnings so that they are able to finance if they need to. Usually this reported income would be around $50,000. With all the write offs, they would still end up paying out each year but it doesn't end up being alot. They buy everything they can with cash. Housing is usually not paid for in cash but everything else can be worked out.
19 comments
Thats a great point. I knew a dancer who left her boyfriend so had to find her own place. Thru another dancer she got hooked up with a female landlord who was an ex stripper. Rent was all cash.
Sure does!!! The IRS leaves you alone, I know. LMAO
On the other hand if she has dependent minor children she might wind up with an EITC that will wipe out most of it or even result in a refund.
(OT, but IMO the same goes for photo ID. You can't drive, fly, or IME get a 'real' job without proof of your ID. How f-ing hard is it to bring you ID with you to vote? Odds are you drove to the polling place.)
As for stripper, I think it's fair to assume that most if not all are independent contractors. So, I would think that she could file same as being self-employed and generate her own 1099 or whatever. The down side is of course owing taxes and penalties.
The thing I don't get is, most clubs I frequent in PA keep a very close tab on the number of dances sold by each dancer. The main reason they do this is becasue they take a cut of each dance. However, I also think they are somewhat doing this becasue they have to pay their business taxes, right? They need a paper trail for their business income, right? It seems like they should be able to (or even have to) generate a 1099 for the corresponding cut that goes to each dancer. That's not going to cover tips, but I would think every money hungery state (and fed) government would force the club to keep tabs on the dancer's income as well as a condition of being allowed to operate.
I suspect that most strip clubs cheat on their taxes. It's a cash business and there is no way that it's possible to track how much revenue they have. They report their revenue to the government, but the government can't prove or track that revenue unless the owner is stupid and reports that he earned $15,000 in profit while buying a new house and two new cars with cash.
A dancer is often not a sub-contractor to a club (otherwise the club would be paying THEM instead of them paying the club.) I admit this is something that really burns me up about strip clubs, because in other showbiz areas, well, think of the dancer as pretty much the talent renting a venue, like a rock band renting a stage. Dancers get bamboozled thinking they work for the club when really it is the club is working for her. (Of course, even for other artists, if one is too unreliable, they won't do business with you.)
So, not only do I get a chuckle out of the pink author thinking she is owed a 1099, but also that the pink author is suppose to make one out for the club. She is really out of her league with this stuff.
I know a stripper who constantly sells her designer clothes, shoes, furniture on the local craigslist and does not even get a good resale value on them. I told her to get on eBay; she'd be able to get a better resale percentage from a broader audience. I think you need a bank account for Paypal, something I doubt she has.
How very true. My former ATF of many years ago, whom I spent lots of money on, actually admitted me to me that her delusional paranoid boyfriend thought I was an IRS agent trying to set him up to go to jail. LOL. I think he was smoking WAY too much weed.
Yikes! How do these creatures survive in our economy?