New York — Last night's House budget, passed under cover of darkness in the middle of the night, failed the American people in countless ways. Among them: the exclusion of the Performing Artists Tax Parity Act (PATPA), which would correct an unintended consequence of prior tax reform efforts, which led to tax increases for many performing artists who could no longer deduct the cost of their ordinary and necessary unreimbursed business expenses. Brooke Shields, president of Actors' Equity Association, released the following statement on behalf of the union's 51,000 actors and stage managers:
“At a time when inflation is surging, the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act is a bipartisan bill that would help put money back into the pockets of thousands of arts workers, from musicians to actors and stage managers to the crew who bring live theatre and film and television shows to life,” said Shields. “This bill was a top priority for Actors’ Equity and a broad coalition of unions and employers. While we fell short this time, we will continue our work to turn PATPA into law this Congress. I am grateful for the leadership of Congressman Buchanan and Congresswoman Chu who have been with us in this fight from Day One.”
PATPA has been introduced in Congress several times, including this January by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL). The legislation has been endorsed by a broad coalition of employers and unions, including The Broadway League, the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Americans or the Arts, Recording Academy, American Federation of Musicians, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO.
While the 2019 tax reform bill did not harm high-income artists, many others in the industry have reported massive tax increases because they lost the ability to deduct their business expenses. “People sit with me and just break into tears because they didn’t know what to do,” Sandra Karas, a tax attorney and secretary-treasurer of Actors’ Equity Association, told the LA Times, which covered the devastating tax increases that hit performing artists.
The bill would update the bipartisan Qualified Performing Artist (QPA) deduction, which was originally signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. The QPA allows an above-the-line tax deduction for qualified performing artists but has been limited since it was enacted to a total adjusted gross income of the taxpayer to $16,000. PATPA would update the deduction to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married artists filing jointly.
ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. www.actorsequity.org #EquityWorks
May 22, 2025
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