It used to be that you could feasibly be very comfortable financially from an operatic career, but there are astronomical expenses. You must prepare in advance to be methodical about keeping account of your money and keeping track of receipts, etc… for taxes and social security in the U.S. I say all this, because I HAVE NOT been methodical, and have paid the price in wasted money and sooo much time!

Nothing is set up for your type of job: forms, programs, everybody, it seems, are set up for someone who lives in one place, and works for a nice big company in one place. Get used to being frustrated, and “playing the system.” Find a good CPA who’s worked for some other singers, and get together with him/her as you start your careers, to get the low-down on how you should prepare your tax stuff, what you can write off and can’t, etc..

MAKE AN EFFORT to put aside a certain percentage of your earnings. You are a free-lance artist. You never know if those next three gigs will get cancelled, you might get sick or damage your voice, and there’s no health plan that comes with the job.

Start paying on a good health plan that will cater to your needs – – make sure it covers things on the road, because THAT’S where you’ll get sick. Nobody but you is in charge of your pension plan! Don’t trust AGMA (the US opera singers’ union) to do anything for you…

I have had problems with the whole tax system, for it is not set up for itinerant singers. This is not the official legal advice of an expert – this is a smattering of information that I have gathered over the years, and the way I understand them. So if you have clarifications or corrections, please email me!!   I am always pleased to get the real skinny on things.

I have worked mainly in France, England, Italy, Switzerland, a little in Germany, Austria, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Portugal. Other than these, I have no idea. I probably am pretty clueless about these countries, in any case! This information is geared towards the American singer, but some things are true for European Union singers, too.  As I now am a tax resident in Italy, my situation is quite changed, so some of this information may now be out of date.  Get the skinny from the IRS site itself if in doubt.  (For example, write-offs!  These were changed under Trump…)

对于美国人来说

税收

Most of our tax system is not set up for a free-lance singer. Even establishing “residency” someplace is difficult, because most of us are not ever home. See the IRS page on 稅額回家。 Sometimes it will be in your better interests to claim taxes in one place rather than another – some states have a lower (or none!) state tax, and some cities, like New York City, have very high city taxes. Since you are not at home much, why pay all those taxes THERE? Check out the applicable laws, and see what you need to do to fulfill the requirements. The tax system is set up for people living in one place, getting income from one source. So be prepared to be creative with your taxes, and get a CPA who has worked for other singers with international careers.For example, to avoid having to keep each and every receipt of food, etc. there is a book of allowable per diem deductions for living expenses for the military and US workers abroad (and in the USA, at that) for every year. You get your CPA to look up the per diem for the city where you have travelled, multiply this by how many days you were there on work, and voila’ you have your expenses for that period. Ask your CPA or read the IRS website’s very helpful publication about expenses. 但是，每日津贴不包括住房费用，因此你必须保留所有这些收据。无论如何，我仍然保留着大量食品收据，以及各种其他与工作相关的费用。但我保留了所有东西。

所有欧盟和大多数欧洲国家（以及大多数会举办歌剧或古典音乐会的工业化国家）都有 与美国签订的避免双重征税条约 and with other European countries. This means that if you are a US citizen, you will not have to pay double taxes.  But how does this work for US citizens?  It’s not always clear, and your CPA may not know about this if they don’t work with people who work in Europe. You need to get a form from the Social Security Service that says that you pay Social Security (and thus, taxes) in the United States and give it to EACH job you do. This way, they do NOT take out the extra 15% or so for THEIR social security program. Make sure you get this form to the financial department of a concert venue or opera company as soon as you get there, because once you have been paid, their social security will already have been taken out, and you can not get that refunded once it has been deducted. Tough beanies for you if you’ve forgotten the form, because you’ll have to pay social security AGAIN in the USA when you file taxes. You can not deduct it from your US taxes, because you were supposed to have gotten that form in on time! Don’t leave this up to your agent – check every time at the beginning of a gig, because agents can forget things or make mistakes, and you may need the time to get that form sent from the USA. Usually they will not accept a copy of the form; they need an original, so faxing does not work.  AND – when you get to an engagement, go by their financial office and make sure they have put through your form.  You can not be too vigilant about this – – check out your paycheck and ask for clarification if you don’t understand the different deductions.  I have found out here, years later, that even at gigs here in Italy where I KNOW I turned in this form, they still deducted social security here in Italy because someone didn’t do their job and I did not check my paycheck!

有一个 外国收入津贴， as I understand it, that used to be around US$120,000 for 2022 for work done outside the U.S. You have to qualify for it, so check out the IRS Website at the link above. As I understand it (I reiterate – I am not an expert) this means you do not have to pay taxes on that first $120,000 you made outside the USA. You will have paid already what they take out at the source in the country in which you made the money. $120,000 sounds like a lot of money, until you realize what kind of taxes and expenses you’re paying!

The big weenie is that you will have to pay taxes in the USA on the money you earn out of the US over that 120,000$ – again. So much for not being double-taxed. The main scope, though, is to have your expenses abroad bring down your income to lower than that amount. It may not always possible, but at least it’s something to keep in mind when you’re planning your bookings. If you do not claim this foreign earned income exclusion, you will be able to deduct the taxes you pay abroad off of your US taxes. Remember in places like France where you will file taxes also (and maybe be levied even more taxes a little later – read below) that the extra taxes you will pay there will need to be deducted from the NEXT year’s US declaration, because of the timing of their declarations.

法国

_{这是巴黎巴士底歌剧院给我的信息}

您是一名艺术家。您在法国演出时获得报酬。您需要在法国就这些收入纳税。您可以避免在法国收入被双重征税。

税法和国际条约
法国与80多个国家签订了税收协议，每个协议都有具体条款。在大多数情况下，您的居住国将决定您将在法国就您在法国的费用缴纳税款，并且您在法国缴纳的税款将全部或大部分从我们本国应缴纳的税款中扣除。

15% 源泉扣除（立即支付）
France deducts from all artists’ earnings 15% of gross income, i.e. before any deductions of social security contributions or expenses. N.B- – It is only a first installment. You may have to pay an additional amount later.

年度纳税申报（强制性）
-对于任何在法国获得收入的人来说都是强制性的。
-确定一个家庭
-表明家庭情况（受抚养人），可以修改应缴纳的税额。
- 仅涉及来自法国的收入。
- 您的净收入将使用此声明来计算。

净收入的计算
除非提供借调表格，否则将从总收入（您收到的总金额）中扣除强制性社会保障缴款。

计算应缴税款总额
-最低综合税率为净收入的25%
-所得税是累进税，税阶从 0% 到大约 58%。
-已扣缴税款的收入将从最终账单中扣除。
-不考虑法国境外的收入。

如何获取您的声明
- 来自我们原籍国的领事馆或法国大使馆。
- 来自法国任何一家税务局 (Centre des Impots)。
- 从位于巴黎 75012 Meuniers 街 27 号 12 区税务局 (Centre des Impots) 出发。

何时作出声明
- 对于欧洲居民，截止时间为 4 月 30 日；对于美国居民，截止时间为 5 月 15 日。
-法国的纳税年度于 12 月 31 日结束。
-任何付款必须在税务机关通知后 45 天内完成。

向何处发送您的声明
-To Centre des Impots des Non-Residents, 9 rue d’Uzes, 75094 Paris, cedex 02
- 前往摩纳哥居民的芒通进口中心。

如果你忘记申报或迟到
-您将失去在时限内主动申报所享有的某些优势，并且您的税单会更高（10% 到 40%，有时甚至更多），而且利息罚款将不能在您的原籍国扣除。

建议和帮助
This form says ” 您的代理人应该能够就行政程序向您提供建议。如果您需要税务顾问，他/她可以为您推荐税务顾问。 ” This is the biggest piece of bullcrap I have read in a long time. No agent I know has the time, patience, or the know-how to help you with your taxes in France. I recommend asking someone IN France while you are there for the name of a capable tax consultant that they know, who speaks English. If I find any names or numbers, I will put their contact information on to these pages. THE MAIN PROBLEM FOR US AS U.S. CITIZENS IS THAT THE FORMS WHICH WE SHOULD USE TO FILE ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO US WHILE WE ARE IN FRANCE – YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR TO ASK FOR THE APPROPRIATE FORM. Good luck!

养老金

Ask your employer about this, so you can get your French pension number. Because you are working in France, you will be entitled to a Frence pension when you’re 65 or so. (I don’t know their retirement age offhand.) If it still exists by then! Anyhoot, it’s good to know that you are entitled to it. I believe this is one of the taxes that you and your employer are paying into each engagement. There are some taxes that are just paid by you, some just paid by your employer, and some paid half and half. I think the pension is the latter. Don’t quote me on it, though.

壮观的场面

This is lovely little gem of an organization that plans for your vacation money! Your employer pays into this fund that you can then tap into for your vacation money each year. Nice idea. It requires a bit of paperwork, but the dividends are superb.The first time you work in France, your employer and you will fill out a form for the Conges Spectacles. Make sure everything’s correct on it, otherwise you’ll keep getting the wrong name on it, etc and it’s a big pain to change – they are not friendly and do NOT speak English. Your employer will give you the signup form at the end of your job, which you will send immediately to the Conges Spectacles so you can get your Conges Spectacles number.

Your employer will also give you a blue form, which proves that you have worked there and has the hours, etc… Hold onto this until the next April rolls around. You’ll need to wait for the Conges Spectacles (the first time you work in France) to send you your number, then fill out your blue form with this, and send it in after the 1st of April. If they receive it before April, they’ll refuse it. So don’t jump the gun! Also included in your confirmation with your new number will be a sheet asking you how you’d like to be paid. Fill out this form with your bank details, and send it in April 1 with your blue form, and from then on, your Conges Spectacles will be directly deposited in your bank account.

Pretty nifty! I think you’re still supposed to send in the blue forms for every year in April, but I don’t think I have in a while, and I still have gotten payments from them. Hmmm. In any case, they get a copy of the blue form from your employer(s) but I guess it’s better to follow the rules than miss out on your money. Even if you have not known to file in a few years, and get all your information in, sometimes they will pay you, if you include a note telling them that you didn’t know you were entitled to the money! I did that the first time after having worked in France for some years, and they paid me the back amount, even though they are not required to.  Here’s their website (in French). https://conges-spectacles.audiens.org/home.html

 

英格兰

If you make over a certain amount of money in England, you will need to file taxes there. You may not end up paying any more money, but you need to file.As an American, you will need to have a work permit BEFORE stepping foot into the country. They are very strict about this, so don’t arrive at the airport or at the train station without it. Either that, or you’d better claim to be there for tourism!

唯一的例外是参加 BBC 逍遥音乐会，这是八月和九月在英国的一项名副其实的传统，但您将收到一封逍遥音乐会的来信，您需要带着这封信前往护照检查处。