"[6] IRC § 162(a) allows for "all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business."
Qualified Performing Artists, along with other designated categories of employees (e.g., fee-based government officials, members of the U.S. Military Reserves) meet these specifications.
The term "ordinary and necessary" in IRC § 162(a) has been litigated by numerous claimants over the last century, although not necessarily in the context of a Qualified Performing Artist.
According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service ("TAS"), there were 106 federal court cases between June 1, 2017, and May 31, 2018, in which the term "ordinary and necessary" was part of claimants' suits against the IRS.
It is important to remember, however, that those expenses can only be included as a QPA deduction to the extent that they are attributable to your work as an employee rendering services in the performing arts.
[12] On September 14, 2006, Senators Charles Schumer (D) of NY and Dianne Feinstein (D) of California introduced a bill, S. 3893 to amend the IRC of 1986 to increase the AGI limit for the QPA deduction.
3121, on June 5, 2019, entitled "Performing Artist Tax Parity Act of 2019" as an effort to address the increasingly restrictive AGI cap and marriage penalty imposed by the original provisions of the QPA deduction.
"[16] It was again referred to the House Ways and Means Committee; this time garnering co-sponsorship from 91 other Representatives, but again left unadvanced before the end of the congressional session.