Accountants for the Music Industry

Touring is where music tax gets complicated fast. Every country you perform in wants a slice of the fees earned within its borders, and the United States is the toughest. Promoters must generally withhold 30% of a foreign artist's gross US performance income for the IRS before you see a penny. Because that is a tax on turnover rather than profit, it routinely overshoots the real liability once flights, crew, production, and commissions are counted.

We reduce this in two ways. Before the tour, we can apply for a Central Withholding Agreement so the IRS sets withholding against projected net profit instead of gross fees. After the tour, we file your US non-resident return (Form 1040-NR) to reclaim any over-withheld tax. UK-resident artists then report the same income through Self Assessment and claim foreign tax credit relief under the US-UK treaty, so you are not taxed twice on the same show.

We also coordinate the paperwork many artists overlook: the P-2 visa petition tax angle, ITIN applications, and per-territory withholding across European dates. The goal is a single, joined-up picture rather than a stack of unreconciled foreign deductions.

Streaming, mechanical, performance, sync, and publishing royalties arrive from dozens of payers on different schedules, often net of foreign tax you may be able to reclaim. Getting the accounting right means recognising income in the correct period, matching statements from your distributor, PRS, PPL, and US societies, and making sure withholding suffered abroad is credited rather than lost.

A common leak is US royalty withholding. Payers apply up to 30% to a foreign recipient by default, but the US-UK tax treaty reduces the rate on most royalties to 0% once you lodge a valid Form W-8BEN with the payer. We make sure your treaty forms are in place before the money moves, not after. For deeper royalty statement work, see our royalties and revenue accounting service.

Merchandise is a serious revenue line, and it carries its own indirect tax rules. In the UK, T-shirts, vinyl, and ticket sales all count towards your VAT registration threshold, which stands at GBP 90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12-month period for 2024/25. Cross it and you must register, charge VAT, and file returns, though different rates can apply to physical versus digital products.

On a US tour, merch is caught by state-level sales tax that changes from state to state, and venues or third-party sellers may collect it on your behalf. We set up systems that track sales by territory so a profitable merch run does not become a compliance headache. This is one of the clearest ways our approach differs from generic music sector accounting — we build around the artist and band on the road.

Structure shapes every tax bill that follows. Many emerging UK artists begin as sole traders reporting through Self Assessment, with the online filing deadline of 31 January after the tax year. As income grows, incorporating can unlock lower corporation tax, dividend planning, and a company vehicle to hold your catalogue and brand. Bands often sit best as a partnership or a jointly owned company with a clear split of income and expenses between members.

US-connected artists have another layer: American citizens and green card holders are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live, so a UK-based US performer still files annually with the IRS and may need FBAR reporting for foreign accounts. We model each option against your real numbers before you commit, so the structure fits the career you are actually building.