The Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA) bill was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan 24. This announcement marks the fifth time the bipartisan bill, originally introduced in 2019 by representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Judy Chu (D-CA), who reintroduced the bill in 2025, has been put forth.
PATPA would allow entertainment professionals to deduct expenses necessary to their work. The bill would adjust the gross income cap from $16,000 to $100,000 for single taxpayers and $200,000 for those filing taxes jointly. The $16,000 figure has remained unchanged since 1986.
Industry professionals spend an estimated 20 to 30 percent of their income on work expenses, such as paying to travel to audition, compensating an agent or manager or procuring headshots.
“We have entered yet another tax season with a policy that unfairly penalizes arts professionals,” said Brooke Shields, president of Actors’ Equity Association, in a statement. “We thank Representatives Chu and Buchanan for once again introducing a bipartisan bill that will mean that actors, stage managers and their colleagues no longer have to pay hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars more in taxes simply due to baseline costs of working in this industry. This was an oversight in tax reform that can be remedied with a simple fix. That needs to happen this year.”
