Rappers and strip clubs go together like lotion and ashy elbows. However, rappers and tax issues go together like peanut butter and jelly. It seems every time you turn around, rappers owe the government money. Some of hip-hop's storytellers may have found a way to lessen the weight of taxes. Rappers Jim Jones, The Game, Bizzy Bone, and Lil Flip are in the process of or have classified the money they blow at strip clubs as tax write offs.
You definitely read the first paragraph correctly. Rappers are trying to have the money they make it rain with classified as tax write offs. As crazy as it sounds, they may be onto something. There are two ways for a rapper to have strip club expenses deducted from their taxes. They are as follows:
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ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSES A rapper can write off expenses if they are entertaining a client, customer, or employee and the total money spent can't be “lavish or extravagant.†That means if a rapper goes to the strip club and drops one to five thousand dollars, they can write it off. However, Drake's recent $50,000 strip club excursion wouldn't be permitted for deduction under this.
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ADVERTISING OR PUBLICITY Rappers can use this method to write off expenses if they are “reasonable and are related directly to the rapper's business. this could open the floodgates because every rapper will try to say they go to the strip club and throw all of that money to boost their rep and image in the entertainment industry, which is part of their business.
The Game said, “[Making it rain] is good for business and promotion that comes with the lifestyle of a rapper. They bump our music in a strip club, so me giving the girls a little bit of change to shake their ass — that comes with the business. Everybody wins.â€
What do you think about this? Should rappers be able to write off strip club expenses? How mad would you be if rappers were allowed to do this, but you weren't?
Comments
last commentSounds more like they finally figured out making it rain isn't good for their bank account and want to take a page out of wealthy white america's book: Exploiting Loopholes
See and you guys say black people are dumb. We learn and adapt too ya know
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Drake is Jewish therefore money/tax write off savvy.
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It appears as though wealthy white America should make a couple of social networking pages, one youtube video and file their taxes as if they were a rapper.
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@dalex Is Drake a US citizen, even? I thought he was from Canada.
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he's Canadian but I don't know about his residence (could be part time Miami) or how his tax situation works.
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Guaranteed that ain't gonna fly with a broke-ass government. For one, where is the receipt? Where is the 1099?
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(for dancers that do pay taxes) we're able to write off hair appointments, tanning, make-up, pretty much anything we can link to dancing.
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@deogol maybe he requested a receipt when he bought the ones?
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Anyone can legitimately deduct, "non reimbursed employee expenses". If you spend money that can be tied to your employment that your employer doesn't reimburse you for, it's legal to deduct it from your income taxes.
For example, I was traveling for work and one day I spent more on meals than my daily maximum. I can legally deduct the $15 or so that I spent out of my pocket on that day from my income when I file my taxes next year.
So rappers doing that and claiming that it's for publicity is legitimate. It's completely clean and can't be questioned if they end up in the news.
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Drake played hockey as a kid.
Real rappers don't play hockey.
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Wasn't he a tv actor before he was a rapper? That might be worse than playing hockey.
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Rappers blow money like fortune 500 banks
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Sure they can TRY to deduct the expenses, but whether they can get away with it is a whole different thing. In general entertainment is deductible but you have to have pretty clear documentation of who you were entertaining and the business that was discussed in the meeting. You will have a lot easier time deducting the entrance fee and drinks than 'making it rain' particularly since in an audit the IRS will be looking for receipts.
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Q How can I deduct my strip club expenses on my income tax?
A Tell the IRS you gave the money to Charity.
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Drake was part of the original cast of Degrassi, and he is Canadian. One of my favorite Canadians, after the band Rush.
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