2026 Musician Tax Blog

As many of you may already know, I’ve made a yearly tradition of writing a tax blog focused around helping musicians better understand how taxes work for them. However, I’m finding it very difficult to justify promoting paying money to a government which is actively subverting our interests, and wasting all of the revenue it generates off of our backs.
Our so-called “representation” in Congress has been pulled away from fighting for our interests in favor of protecting corporations and wealthy donors. By paying taxes, we pay for bombs and missiles killing children overseas, we pay for the kidnapping and illegal detention of our friends and neighbors, we fund the mechanisms which work to revoke our rights and freedoms. None of us want this. 

In a true democracy, we should have control over where our tax money is spent. In fact, it’s actually built into the structure of our government by giving Congress (our representation) the power to control how money is spent. However, in the United States, corruption is legal under the name of “lobbying”. The people do not own their representation, capital does. As a result, we effectively have taxation without representation in this country - ironic considering the circumstances under which it was created. Billionaires have representation, corporations have representation, but you and me? Nope.

So instead of the usual tax how to, this year’s blog will take a look at ways to save money on taxes–to ensure more of your income stays with you so that you can put your money towards keeping yourself and your communities safe, and contribute to causes that you believe in. I will still leave my old tax posts up for people who need it, most of the information there is still relevant. 
You can read it here: (seanpenzo.com/musician-coop/2025-musician-taxes-post)

Here’s your usual disclaimer: I am not a tax expert. Think of this post as a starting point to connect you to resources. Not paying taxes is indeed illegal. The goal is to pay as little as possible federally while still remaining compliant with tax law. Please carefully make sure you are compliant when filing.

Summary/TLDR:

The list above breaks down the main ways you can save on taxes this year. I will break down each of these points in the rest of the blog, but if this is enough for you, check out the links above and get started!

File for Free (For Real):

​You may have seen ads online from TurboTax about filing for free, and then you may have later found yourself then paying TurboTax to file your taxes. How did that happen? 

Do not fall for their crap. Here are two simple ways to save money when filing:

1. The first option is to take advantage of one of the many VITA or TCE sites across the country to get assistance with your taxes. They offer in person help and some even have drop sites where they will file on your behalf - all for free! They are intended for people who make less than $69,000 per year, have disabilities, or are limited-english speaking. You can check your eligibility and find a site near you through this link: (irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers).

2. The second option is for folks who would rather file online. You’ll want to check directly with the IRS where you can file for free. There are many alternative services (many of which work better than TurboTax) which will be free or at the very least much cheaper than TurboScam. Simply follow this link: (irs.gov/e-file-do-your-taxes-for-free) and answer the questions they’ll prompt you with. They’ll then offer the best match for you.

What is EITC?:

EITC or Earned Income Tax Credit is a credit that you can add to your taxes to pay less as a low to moderate-income worker. I’ve found that many tax filing services actually neglect to include this in how they file taxes, and as a result, many people are actually over paying.

You can check your eligibility for this credit by using the IRS tool linked here:
(irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant)

This tool also lets you check previous years. If you’ve found that you overpaid in years past, you can actually file an amendment to previous tax returns in order to get this credit you are owed back. The IRS has a handy how to for that here:
(irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/how-to-claim-the-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc)
Keep in mind that you can only go back three years to do this, so if you find you have an eligible year, make sure to do it within the time limit.

If you are matched with TaxSlayer as your tax service for preparing taxes, they do take this credit into account when you file, so you can just file normally with them and receive the credit automatically!

Itemized Deductions and Donations:

​For most people reading this, you may end up wanting to take a standard deduction on your taxes if the amount of itemized deductions you’ve taken throughout the year is less than $15,700 as an individual filer. Most tax preparing services will automatically place you on the best deduction to save you the most money. So if that’s you, don’t worry about this. At the end of the day, the goal is to pay as little as you can, and the standard deduction will get you there if you’re not taking a lot of deductions for business expenses.

However, if you find that the amount you are deducting for business expenses is similar or greater than the standard deduction (greater than $15,700 for individual filers), this opens a new world of possibilities to you.

If you take itemized deductions instead of the standard deduction on your taxes (filing a Schedule A), you can donate up to 60% of your gross income to qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofits and take it as a deduction on your taxes. This means that money that you would have sent to the federal government can instead go to the causes that you care about! Extra bonus: if you go over that 60%, you can still apply it to the next year’s taxes. 

This is a way to have more control over what your money pays for. It is one of the many tricks that those billionaires who run our government use to be able to pay less taxes than you do. If you have the means, why not try it too?

Thank you for Reading!

​That’s all I can think of at the moment, I hope you found this post helpful! Please do reach out if you have any questions or suggestions for other ways to save money. This is a rough moment, and doing a bit of extra research into how we can support each other, here and abroad, can make a difference. Thank you for reading, here’s to a distant future where we can be proud of paying taxes, and happy jamming!