Jessica Humphrey (center) performs in New York alongside some of this year’s seniors.
The two sure things in life are death and taxes, the adage goes. But taxes aren’t always created equal. They are known to be particularly difficult for creatives, prompting Jessica Humphrey’s Professional Seminar, a course the theater instructor teaches that covers practical lessons for her fine arts students.
The Fort Worth Report recently published an article on the efforts to demystify the tax code, including Humphrey’s course (recommended to take alongside Senior Showcase), which covers how to prepare for paying taxes as an artist and further budgeting skills.
“If you have an agent, you are paying your agent 10% of that paycheck. If you have a manager, that’s another 15% of your paycheck that’s gone,” Humphrey said. “Then you have to pull out your amount for taxes. So really, when you’re looking at $600 a week, that’s not what you’re making. Building that into your budget ahead of time saves you a lot of headaches and heartache later.”
The article also included Erica Harkins, a senior musical theater major, who saw firsthand when doing her own taxes the need to be prepared financially.
“It was definitely a shock to see that like end number at the end of all of this process pop up,” Harkins said.
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