Hello,
I need some clarification after being told different things about my taxes. I filed an extension for 2015. I earned income in 2015 through 2 different modeling agency's, one in Pittsburgh and the other in New York. I made around $1,000 in Pittsburgh for which I am responsible for paying a few hundred dollars in taxes. In New York, however, I did not make any money. I actually ended up in a great deal of debt with the agency I was working with. They charged me 70/ night for the model apartment that I stayed in for all of may, June, July, and august. I had to borrow money from them for groceries and transit after I burned through my savings. Every job I worked went to paying off my $6,000 debt (the summation of all of the expenses my agency covered for me so I could work in NYC) and I have records showing this. In other words, my agency ran a tab for every night I spent in the apartment, the physical trainer they made me work with, transit to and from jobs/castings, website maintenance, portfolio, hair appointments they made for me, clothes they made me buy, and comp cards they printed for me. Every dollar I made when I booked a job was kept by my agency when they were paid by the client. My agency got paid for my jobs, but I did not because I owed them money. My agency told me they did not report any of the income from my jobs, since I was not paid for them. My tax preparer however said I need to report income when the job is complete, regardless of whether or not I receive any payment from it. I'm not sure if I can write off the cost I paid to work in New York City if I do not report taxable income from those jobs. I left New York with no money to my name, having to move back in with my parents and take out student loans to go back to school. I still carry the debt with my agency in NYC.
Do I report the income from jobs I worked that I will never receive payment for? Can I write off the thousands of dollars I spent on the model apartment, subway to and from jobs, cabs to castings, the cost of portfolio, composite cards, hair appointments, gym membership and etc in NYC without reporting the income from jobs I worked their that my agency collected the money from?
I was basically an indentured servant in New York so I'm not sure how I can be expected to pay anything in taxes.
Thanks!

#1;It depends; Generally, the IRS considers all income received in the form of money, property or services to be taxable income unless the law specifically provides an exemption.For example, say, bartering is an exchange of property or services. The fair market value of goods and services exchanged between you and the agency is fully taxable and must be included on Form 1040 in the income of both parties; The IRS expects you to report all of your income, even if you don?t have to pay taxes on it. You report the income, and if it ends up being less than what you are taxed on, you don?t pay your taxes on it.


As an independent contractor, you must file return aslongas the amount n your Sch C of 1040 line 29/ 31 is $400 or more than $400;I mean $400 or more than $400 means your net income for your model job(net income =total gross income minus all biz related expenses)


#2;.It also depends;simply speaking, as you can see aslongas your expenses are directly related to your model job biz, then you may claim them on your Sch C of 1040; 'Ordinary and necessary' expenses for your business are generally tax-deductible A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. Problems arise when an expense might be partly personal and partly business-related. Generally, you cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses. However, if you have an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, divide the total cost between the business and personal parts. You can deduct ONLY the business part.