Dear Mr. Hunt,

I’m an amateur musician. I don’t really earn any money playing the violin, but I play in a community orchestra that plays four or five concerts a year. We are very serious and we sound pretty good. I have the funds to purchase a better violin. Would I be able to depreciate the instrument on my taxes? I also know that old string instruments generally appreciate in value. Am I able to depreciate the violin even if it appreciates? Thanks for your help.
Lynda Ayres

Linda

Because you do not play your instrument as an income generating  activity, your performing with the community orchestra would be considered a  personal activity or a hobby rather than a business  activity. As such, you  would not be able to claim any expenses related to playing in the community  orchestra, including depreciation on the violin.  However, if the  organization is listed with the IRS as a qualified not for profit  organization, then you could deduct mileage to and from rehearsals and  concerts as a charitable donation.  Please note that persons engaged in a  hobby that does generate some income can deduct expenses for that hobby up to  the amount of income.
If  you do find yourself in a situation where you are playing your violin  professionally and earning income from this activity, then you could  depreciate the instrument, but please read my article on polyphonic.org for more information, especially regarding older string  instruments.

Thank you for your question and good luck with your next  concert!

Bill  Hunt

Hi,

My wife works full time for an orchestra and receives all the benefits of such – predictable schedule, a contract for the year, insurance, etc. She receives a W-2 from them every January. She is for all intents an employee.

However, she also subbed for another much larger orchestra in another state this past year for about 12 weeks. These were anywhere from 1 to 3 week engagements. When she worked there, she was responsible for her expenses of travel, lodging, food. This added up to about 2500 miles round trip, a couple of flights, and around 70 days of meals. She received a W-2 from this group, even though she really didn’t enjoy any of the benefits of being an actual employee – she had no guarantees of work, no contract beyond 3 weeks, and definitely no benefits package. She did have taxes taken out and I believe pension contributions under the groups’ CBA.

What I am wondering is if she can treat this work and its expenses as any kind of self-employment and take above line deductions rather than fall under the unreimbursed employee business expense category, which creates a much more complicated situation – we would have to itemize her travel and costs for every ensemble rather than just the one she subbed with and a festival.

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