This episode is SO FULL of valuable information that I had to edit it down. Please head to The Acting Business Mastery Group on Facebook to get the EXTRA 20 mins. You’ll hear about more deductions you can take, why Turbo Tax is screwing actors, when it’s the right time to incorporate yourself as an actor and more. 

Sandra Karas is a working actor and member of SAG-AFTRA, serving on the New
York Local Board and Actors’ Equity Association, serving as its Secretary-Treasurer.
She is also an attorney in private practice in the areas of Financial Planning, Tax,
Estates, Trusts, Contracts and Business Law. She is a frequent lecturer on tax,
finances, estates and long-term planning, trusts and advanced directives to the
theatrical industry and as well as to the legal and accounting communities. Among
other union leadership roles, she chairs Equity’s House Affairs Budget Committee and the SAG-AFTRA’s local Reinstatement Obligations Review Committee. She has
authored articles on taxation for Equity News and other publications for more than 30 years. Ms. Karas spearheaded an effort to lobby for legislative reform in the Internal Revenue Code that resulted in the 1986 Tax Reform Act’s creation of the Qualified Performing Artist provision to allow for dollar-for-dollar deductions for low-income performers. This remains the Code’s first and only provision of its kind to address the needs of our industry and has benefitted thousands of members of SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Ms. Karas also currently serves as Director of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program and has been a pro bono preparer and instructor for more than 30 years. Ms. Karas has a BFA from Ithaca College, a MA from Schiller International University in Berlin, a MFA from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Syracuse University. She holds licenses in the areas of tax accounting, securities and investments, and the law, and is admitted to practice in all New York State courts, Federal District Court, United States Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court.