Hello all. Somewhat frequent reader, first time poster.

I was lucky enough to attend the House of Blues show in October, and was wondering what steps need to be taken to write this off on my taxes. Credit Card statement? Ticket stub?

Any help would be appreciated.

Is a PJ show really worth going to jail?

Seriously unless you needed to attend for work, I think you're shit out of luck

Sorry man you are out of luck. Eventhough the 1k you spent was donated to charity you got something out of it. It is not like you just gave 1k to the releif and recieved nothing in return. I know it sucks but hey, at least you got to attend a one in a life time show. If you do however decide to try and write it off DO NOT provide your credit card statement and/or ticket stub. That will automatically null your write-off. Depending on how much you make a 1k gift may not be much to you so the IRS wouldn't look into your taxes at all. It is up to you. There is so much stuff you can write off but this isn't one of them.

If you play guitar, as I do, or any instrument for that matter you can write the instruments and anything associated with it, e.g. strings, picks, etc. because it is a part of your trade. I even heard of one guy who writes off the mileage and gas from driving to gigs. To me that is pushing it. As long as your sole income is from something else you can write off instruments. I have a friend who is an accountant. I am a very smart guy, but the tax laws just make my head hurt.

I've heard differently. Even though you got something in return for your donation, I think you can write off any expenses that were over and above the price you would normally have paid were this not for charity, i.e. the difference between a $50 normal ticket and a $1000 benefit ticket. Since there were three charities involved I believe, you'd split the $950 balance three ways when declaring the donation. Obviously check with a real tax advisor on this, not a message board, but it is worth looking into. I also thought Congress passed some post-Katrina law allowing any charitable contribution to be doubled (for tax purposes) this year. Again, check with someone who actually does this for a living though.

Agreed....it should be deductable for you.

I claimed my VFC show on my taxes in 2004. I don't think you need anything specific ... just proof that you paid for your ticket.

I am an attorney and this is definitely deductible as a charitable donation, regardless of the fact that you went and enjoyed a show.

thsi thread is telling of how far we've come in 15 years as fans.


would we have considered out taxes when we were 13/14 listening to TEN? i'm not saying it to be insulting. it's just mildly funny.

If it had cost me $1000 ... maybe.

Red Mosquito! The Pearl Jam Tax Advice Forum!

American tax law must be crazy - my tax is deducted at source, from my pay packet, or every time I buy alcohol/smokes/anything else the bastards can add VAT to.

many congratulations on that!

kev step away from the high horse. Anyone that can get 1,000 off of their taxes and see a show should definitely take it off of their taxes. You don't think the band writes their donations to the many charities they give to off of their taxes? If you don't you're higher than that horse.

We pay taxes that way too.

It's kinda like the first time you asked for a suit or something for your birthday because you wanted one. that happened to me last year and I got very depressed.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but if I could have afforded the $1,000 to see the House of Blues show, I would care less about it being tax dedeductable. Its not like it was for a random charity...it went to the people who were/are suffering one of the worst natural disasters in history. Go to New Orelans and ask their citizens how they feel about this question.

And its not like that grand was just donated, you got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Pearl Jam in a small venue...with Robert Plant. I'm not on a high horse, but what the fuck? I find this question to be extremely insensitive to the suffering and to Pearl Jam fans alike. Next time, ask a fucking lawyer or accountant. Can't find one who'll answer for free, you tight bastard? http://www.allexperts.com

Alas, I have finally come to understand "Green Disease."

If I had the thousand bucks I probably would have been happy to spend it, but I also wouldn't throw away the chance to get the tax deduction either. A thousand bucks is a lot of money

Whoa. Calm it down there, Commie.

So, is it your contention that you shall never claim charitable givings on your taxes?

Interesting points, but another way to think of it is like this: Katrina victims got a thousand bucks, and less taxes out of our pockets means less tax money going to bombs and the fat cats in DC. All the tax that we can deduct, the more service we're doing to ourselves and the rest of the world...except for those green diseased fucks on Capitol Hill. And the guy was bold enough to front that much cash to charity...so god bless him.

Just a couple thoughts.