Out from Under the Table
Article Transcript
When I get old and losing my hearing…when I’m 64! Not to wish away my years, I’m just 60, but now a bit wiser with deeper knowledge and experience. As a way younger emerging artist, I lived in the moment. I was naïve about many financial business matters, believed my passion could overcome all, and was stubbornly loathsome of paying taxes on cash income, paying business license fees— where the heck is there money left for my hard and loving labor of drawing great caricatures!? My goal was to be footloose, free, and independent and live as much as possible away from formal business dealings. Like many, I partly worked the world under the table. The truth can hurt, but the rarely told secret to success is long-term financial planning and starting to honor your profession as an artist from the beginning by doing it legally and out from under the table. It may seem that in the short term avoiding the legal radar puts more money in your pocket, keeps you in control, and massages your independent and libertarian leaning, but this strategy is flawed, especially if you want longevity.
We all know how important it is to keep artistic skills, adaptability, flexibility, and readiness at peak level. No one wants to miss out on opportunity. It is too hard to survive as an artist too willingly to do so. A critical way to limit becoming a casualty is to eliminate illegal business methodology. We live in a punitive post 9/11 environment where tax fraud, RICO Laws, forfeiture laws, and excessive fines can ruin a future without mercy. Just get pulled over by law enforcement with lots of cash on you without convincing evidence once, and it could have catastrophic consequences. There is plenty of documentation of just this happening to sweet, honest, and well-intentioned folks.
Sooner than one may suspect, you can go from a lone caricature artist living from gig to gig with full, but shallow, pockets to finding yourself wanting to nest, maybe pair up with a love bug and buy or rent property, or capitalize on an artistic opportunity not previously considered. To do this you will need deep documentation as to the legitimacy of your business, without which, potential will be compromised and opportunity may be lost! I always look for ways to maximize and expand on any art opportunity available, and to offer an example of what I am suggesting, I have a little story.
In 2007 I found myself in the position to be the second American EVER since Castro came to power to have a solo art exhibition in Havana, Cuba. This was one of those opportunities of a lifetime that I could have never foreseen. I had to provide legal documentation of my artist status to convince the U.S. Treasury Department to issue me an exception to an over-50-year economic boycott against Cuba by granting me a permit to export and import artwork through Federal customs, and also satisfy demands of the minister of culture in the Castro government to allow passage of me and my artwork into and out of Cuba. By this time I had built years of legitimate art business status and I was prepared to turn on a dime to successfully navigate this complex, confusing, and bureaucratic quagmire. I was already set up with a DBA (legal tax business status of “Doing Business As”), I had years of tax records, I was insured under a business name, I had mucho declared money in both liquidity and investments, I had a business address, which is my home studio/gallery of one full floor or 1/3 sq. footage of my home that met business tax code standards legitimizing tax deductions, yearly percentage deductions of utilities, etc. and whatever request came from officials, I was capable of providing a preponderance of evidence substantiating my petition for a travel visa. My permit was granted in time to make all necessary arrangements. I have had many similar experiences where I was successful in maximizing opportunity because I had full legal art business status. There are many times that success is not about being the best, but being the ready best.
I recently produced and self-published a book of my caricatures that interpret the election cycle of 2012 through my lens. An abundance of financing was available to me because I was legitimate. The entire process of expenses, fees, sales, postage, materials, mileage, wear and tear, and all related accounting business aspects are itemized on a spreadsheet under my DBA to be processed in my tax paperwork. Any and all connections, correspondences, and opportunities that are a result from this book I can maximize as an above-the-table-artist. One such spinoff is that I have been invited to be a paid guest lecturer at university art history classes. In addition, my very first exposure at a global news media outlet, The Huffington Post, is a direct result of my cross-marketing strategy and because I occupy artistic real estate above the table.
Any time a customer enters my studio, if they somehow trip, slip, have a heart attack from viewing my acerbic artwork, fall into my toilet and break their neck and need a lifetime of 24-hour care, I can sleep at night knowing I am a legitimate business with more than necessary liability insurance. It is vital to understand liability because if misfortune strikes, you can lose everything. Is that worth the extra under-the-table-cash income? Are you an insured art business?
I do not intend to give any tax or legal advice here or preach. I am not qualified. I hire paid professionals to provide me with a means to be professional. I want to produce the best professional artwork I can, whether it is caricatures, or paintings connected to galleries around the country, and present myself as the best professional artist possible. I simply want to provide a window for non-believers, procrastinators, and those fiercely determined to caricature below the table to seriously ponder if that is the limited space you want to inhabit. You do not want to define limits on your caricaturing — why do so as the proprietor caricature artist? Seek professional advice to learn about costs and benefits and begin organizing for a larger vision. Many cities have an arts advocate non-profit organization that can assist and perhaps even issue grant money for professional development. Believe it or not, the federal government provides lots of free assistance. It is just like your grandparents might have told you: save a small percentage of money every week, watch it grow, and in time you will be amazed at how much independence that will provide. Establish yourself fully as artist-asbusiness now and watch how flexible you can be to seize every opportunity that winks at ya! Oh, and for the record, I still loathe giving my money to the insurance industry and the fee monitors, but at least years of business crafting built a strong foundation I can stand on while I laugh at those fantastic caricatures you all create, and I can live honestly way more footloose and free from unnecessary legal entanglements.
An award-winning and published political artist whose byline is “Art That Polices Politics” specializing in figurative, narrative and caricatured interpretations of current events. For more on Allen check out these websites:
www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-schmertzler-/
www.allenschmertzler-artist.com
