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I am writing this week’s editorial in a beautiful churchyard in Derbyshire between rehearsal and performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, in which I am playing. The ninth is the symphony which includes the Ode to Joy and represents the highest ideas of the human spirit. It will be a hugely uplifting experience to take part in the concert.
But what has always fascinated me is the sometimes yawning gap between the artist’s ideas and the reality of their own lives. Beethoven himself is a classic example. His financial affairs would not survive scrutiny – he was notorious for selling the same pieces to several publishers at the same time even though each was offered an exclusive deal. Indeed, there was notorious double dealing over the ninth symphony itself. Closer to home, it was also known that Beethoven was a tax evader. Remarkably, the declaration accompanying his 1818 tax return survives and it is clear that he was, to say the least, selective about the income which he included. Similarly, the penalty warning letter for 1824 also survives – again evidence that he was late paying his taxes for that year. Even the greatest artists have feet of clay – that is what makes them so fascinating as human beings.
If I ever give up the editor’s chair I have a long-term plan to write a book on the tax lives of the great composers. It is unlikely to be as big a seller as one with a different three-letter word ending in ‘x’ in the title, but there would be plenty to keep me occupied. I suspect that in the end the problem would be identifying the composers whose tax affair were all beyond reproach.
If you do one thing...
See the latest LITRG guidance on tax for freelancers (tinyurl.com/litrgfreel). There is some useful information which might form the basis of letters to new freelancing clients.
