How the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Impacts Members of IATSE

Last month marked the deadline for Federal and State tax returns for tax year 2017 and like many Americans it’s likely that after you submitted your returns (or filed for an extension) you immediately stopped thinking about taxes until next year. We’re publishing this article to remind our members that Congress recently passed a pro-growth tax plan referred to as The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), which was signed into law on December 22, 2017.

This new tax plan will affect your earnings from January of this year (2018) onward, and there are some very good reasons for some in the film industry to begin planning now in anticipation of the changes made by this law.

TaxFoundation.org provides a comprehensive analysis of the new law (link to site)

Local 479 has collaborated with Atlanta-based Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Ted Fricke, founder of Fricke and Associates, P.C., on a series of videos designed to assist our membership with understanding this new law. Provided below is Ted’s full interview, which runs just under 20 minutes.

Ted Fricke: How the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Impacts Members of IATSE

Provided below are the individual components of Ted’s interview, separated into clips.

CLIP 01 – What Changes were made in the 2018 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act?

A brief overview of the most significant changes by the new law.

CLIP 02 – How are Exemptions & Deductions Changing?

An easy to follow explanation of how exemptions, deductions, and itemizations will all be changing due to the new tax law.

CLIP 03 – Which changes are most likely to affect people in the film industry?

Methods for reporting unreimbursed business expenses have been removed from tax returns.

CLIP 04 – How should I report the rental of my equipment?

This clip explores several different methods for reporting income from the rental of equipment.

CLIP 05 – Should I form a company?

Ted provides a walk through of the rationale behind and the methods for forming a company, as well as the financial thresholds that film workers should consider when deciding if it’s time for them to take this step.

CLIP 06 – What is a Statutory Employee? Is that something I should look into?

Ted addresses the concept of submitting start-up paperwork under the auspices of being a “statutory employee”, an idea which has become a point of discussion amongst filmmakers following the passage of the new law.

Tax Calculators

Depending on your circumstances the manner by which you have been taxed in the past can be instructive when making an estimate on how you will be taxed in the future. The financial services industry has been busy assessing how the new laws will affect businesses and individuals, and several sources have already provided online calculators to help taxpayers make a fast first guess at how they might be affected by the new law.

Provided below are a sample of these tax calculators.

• Tax Foundation 2018 Tax Reform Calculator
• H&R Block Free Tax Calculator
• Tax Act 2018 Tax Reform Calculator
• CNN Tax Calculator

Ben Tallman, a CPA serving the Atlanta film industry for several decades, suggests trying TaxPlanCalculator.com

Coda

While The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed into law several months ago the actual tax code that services this law is still being compiled. The information provided by the tax calculators and in Ted Fricke’s videos represent the most current information as of the date of this posting and may be subject to refinement as the year progresses. IATSE Local 479 is providing this information to help our members begin to explore how the coming changes may affect their income. The Local does not endorse any particular course of action, and as always recommends that members who wish to know more should contact a Certified Public Accountant or other financial professional for tax and investment advice.

Our thanks to Ted Fricke of Fricke & Associates (www.frickecpa.com) for his time and for sharing his expertise in the preparation of our video series.