Because you're an honorable person who keeps records, which they would ask to see.

This is true.

A crook wouldn't keep the records, but we know that's not you. What kind of idiot would broadcast to the world that he's a thief?

Not me! I'm a different kind of an idiot. Actually, I used to not worry about reporting cash income when it was pretty sporadic, but now that I'm making a lot more money on music I feel that I need to be on the up-and-up. In fact, I think there is a negative psychological effect to always try to sneak around your tax liability. You put a pressure on yourself to NOT make money, in order to avoid paying taxes. That's totally psychological and not logical, but I believe it's true for a lot of people, and this is part of the "starving artist" mentality. I find that it's a lot better to report everything honestly, because I want to make MORE money, not less. There are already so many good and legal ways of avoiding taxes, so I figure why not take advantage of those? And besides, Quicken works a lot better if the books aren't cooked....

Phil Marti
VITA Volunteer

What's a VITA Volunteer?