Artists Rejoice! Tax Court Concludes Painter's Activity Isn't A 'Hobby'

It has to suck to make your living as an artist. For starters, you have to be able to sculpt, draw, or paint things that, you know… look like things. But even if you can, you know damn well that when you tell someone at a dinner party that you’re an “artist,” they’ll smugly assume that’s just a pleasant euphemism for “unemployed trust fund baby.” And on the off chance that all your creativity and hard work pays off and you have a piece prominently displayed in a gallery or museum, you’ll have to repeatedly deal with a boorish lout like me eyeing up your magnum opus and dismissively professing, “I don’t get it.”

If you’re willing to deal with all of that, you just might carve out a nice, long career as a professional artist. But be warned, this might just lead to you suffering the ultimate indignity of all: having the IRS come in and coin your life’s work a “hobby.”

Understand, such a categorization is more than just a slap in the face. Having your activity classified as a hobby has serious, negative tax consequences.