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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (1) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared Tired Gay succumbs to Dix in 200 meters 03 Jul 2010 North Korea shrugs off ship and calls for nuclear talks 09 Jul 2010 U.S. judge slashes penalty in music download case 09 Jul 2010 German fans want revenge grilling of oracle octopus 08 Jul 2010 Cat burglar takes shine to washing-line underwear 08 Jul 2010 BP could start cap switch on Saturday: Coast Guard 09 Jul 2010 California transit cop verdict sparks looting 09 Jul 2010 BP set to install bigger cap on leaking Gulf well 09 Jul 2010 Weaker economic view, stronger 3-year sale 09 Jul 2010 Viagra-popping seniors lead the pack for STDs 06 Jul 2010 Tired Gay succumbs to Dix in 200 meters 03 Jul 2010 German fans want revenge grilling of oracle octopus 08 Jul 2010 Google's Schmidt undaunted by Apple or Facebook 09 Jul 2010 Cat burglar takes shine to washing-line underwear 08 Jul 2010 BP could start cap switch on Saturday: Coast Guard 09 Jul 2010 Investors flocking to group organizing sites 08 Jul 2010 Viagra-popping seniors lead the pack for STDs 06 Jul 2010 Fresh economic worries trigger rush into gold 17 Jun 2010 SEC pushes tighter market-making rules: sources 09 Jul 2010 Soldier charged over leaked video of attack 06 Jul 2010 IRS keeping close eye on musicians' tour dollars Digg This Tweet This Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Related News Canadian rockers Arcade Fire maintain DIY mystique Tue, Jul 6 2010 Mexican musicians wary after latest murder Fri, Jul 2 2010 AEG Live talks with labels point to market changes Fri, Jun 25 2010 Related Topics U.S. » Fashion » Entertainment » Music » By Ray Waddell Fri Jul 9, 2010 10:18pm EDT NASHVILLE (Billboard) - U.S. touring revenue from international musicians appears to be on the taxman's radar. Rock 'n' roll accountant Bill Zysblat says it's clear that Uncle Sam is watching. "When the IRS finds an area that they believe is being abused or could yield more taxpayer dollars, they add manpower to it," says Zysblat, a partner at RZO Productions and a leading authority on global touring accounting. "A few years ago, they concluded that athlete and entertainer taxes might be escaping their radar. So they reinstated a division to only deal with this area." In 2007, the IRS launched an "issue management team" aimed at improving U.S. tax payments by foreign athletes and entertainers working in the United States. The team's initial focus has been professional tennis players, golfers and musicians because these "individuals and those associated with arranging their appearances in the U.S. and managing their financial affairs are typically high-income individuals," the IRS says on its website. "Because of this, it is important to ensure proper tax reporting and payment." What prompted the IRS to think it was missing out on a piece of the action? In the case of music acts touring in the United States, the increasing prevalence of multirights artist deals appears to be a factor, Zysblat says. Under multirights deals, it can be a tricky business ascribing the U.S. portion of an advance for an international multiyear agreement covering touring, merchandising and sometimes recording and publishing, he says. International athletes and entertainers are subject to a 30 percent tax on gross income they earn in the United States and must enter a central withholding agreement (CWA) with the IRS and a designated withholding agent to cover specific tours or events. In these days of global tour promotion, where Live Nation or AEG Live sometimes control the entire box office of a tour, the IRS can often notify a single promoter to simply withhold 30 percent of whatever is paid to a band and turn it over to the government, Zysblat says. DOUBLE EXPOSURE Zysblat says the IRS has double taxation treaties with most industrialized nations that protect individuals from having to pay the IRS taxes on income generated in the United States if that income is already being taxed in their country of residence. But entertainers and athletes are treated differently and "are taxed in the U.S. on their personal service income, even if they pay tax in their own resident country," Zysblat says. While foreign acts are double-taxed initially, most countries allow their citizens to receive a tax credit against any U.S. income tax they pay, meaning that international artists playing in the United States usually come out even in the end, Zysblat says. RZO acts as a withholding agent on behalf of its clients and negotiates CWAs with the IRS to minimize its clients' tax exposure by reaching an agreement on which expenses (such as rehearsal and production costs) can be deducted before the IRS gets its share. RZO pioneered the concept of independent tour production for foreign artists by contracting directly with U.S. promoters, negotiating and paying all of the tour expenses. "In that way, the artists' gross was, in fact, the net of the tour, and the artists were then being withheld upon based on net and not gross," Zysblat says. It was an approach that helped RZO in the '70s and '80s to expand its international client roster, which included the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Foreign artists planning a U.S. tour should notify the IRS at least 30 days before they begin their tour and enter a CWA "in order to avoid an onerous withholding tax," Zysblat says. "Over the last several years, they have come down hard on artists who do not negotiate well in advance of their tours," he says. "Many artists do not net 30 percent of the gross of a tour, so such a withholding can be crippling to cash flow." Tax planning is critical, as it's not a stretch to assume that IRS watchdogs keep an eye on tour announcements. "We are seeing a number of smaller artists who traditionally toured and possibly filed tax returns after year-end, now being approached in advance," Zysblat says. Even major touring artists are attracting the attention of the IRS, he says, noting that the agency "called us prior to the announcement of the current Sting tour, beating us to the punch for the first time." U.S. Fashion Entertainment Music Comments See All Comments (1) | Post Comment Jul 09, 2010 11:15pm EDT Suck them dollars in. The Dems and Obama need to spend more, more, more! Zarkon Report As Abusive See All Comments (1) Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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