mohammadalisalih.com Blog

NEW AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: JESUS, THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND THE KORAN

Michael Gerson, former faith advisor to former President George W. Bush, and now a columnist with “The Washington Post,” wrote about “What Would Jesus Do?” to solve the current economic crisis.

(Read below).

But, he and the Christian groups he quoted failed to mention Jesus famous encounter with the money merchants in the temple.

The Koran mentions that and builds its economic guides on suspicion, if not condemnation, of money merchants.

Here is what Wikipedia said about the Koran and economics:

“Islam accepts markets as the basic co-coordinating mechanism of the economic system. Islamic teaching holds that the market, through perfect competition, allows consumers to obtain desired goods, producers to sell their goods, at a mutually acceptable price….

The Quran (3: 130) clearly condemns what it calls by the Arabic term “riba,” usually translated “interest”: “O, you who believe! Devour not riba, doubled and redoubled, and be careful of Allah; haply so you will prosper…

Most Islamic economic institutions advise participatory arrangements between capital and labor. The latter rule reflects the Islamic norm that the borrower must not bear all the cost of a failure…

Conventional debt arrangements are thus usually unacceptable – but conventional venture investment structures are applied even on very small scales. However, not every debt arrangement can be seen in terms of venture investment structures. For example, when a family buys a home it is not investing in a business venture… (More study in needed)”…

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NEWS: WHAT WOULD JEUSUS DO? MICHAEL GERSON, COLUMNIST, “THE WASHINGTON POST” (Excerpts):

With varied motivations, human beings tend to invoke the name of God in foxholes, in the throes of passion and in budget debates.

During the recent debt-limit showdown, Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) credited “divine inspiration” for his opposition to House Speaker John Boehner’s initial proposal. Democratic activist Donna Brazile tweeted, “Last time I checked, God is above this partisan stuff. But I believe (as a woman of faith) Jesus would be fair and support shared sacrifice”…

A group of Christian leaders called A Circle of Protection asserts, “The moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare.” “The Christian community,” its statement goes on, “has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected”…

Another group, Christians for a Sustainable Economy (CASE), offers a corrective, pointing out that the accumulation of debt and economic stagnation are also moral challenges, and noting that some well-intended social spending is ineffective. “We believe the poor of this generation and generations to come,” its statement reads, “are best served by policies that promote economic freedom and growth… Compassion is “best fulfilled through Christian charity and spiritual counseling, not government programs”…

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Social welfare, unemployment, public debt and globalization have been re-examined from the perspective of Islamic norms and values. Islamic banks have grown recently in the Muslim world but are a very small share of the global economy compared to the Western debt banking paradigm. It remains to be seen^[vague] if they will find niches – although hybrid approaches, e.g. Grameen Bank which applies classical Islamic values but uses conventional lending practices, are much lauded by some proponents of modern human development theory.

NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: THANKS FOR 9/11, GWOT AND OBL

Thanks for 9/11 terrorist attacks, the so-called “war on terrorism” and Osama Bin Laden, Islam has come a long way in America. When I first came to America in early 1972, and for few years, many people told me I was the first Muslim they met and they had no idea what Islam was.

Last week, I saw an excellent HBO documentary about Muslims children who go to Cairo every year during Ramadan to compete in reciting the Koran.

(Read below).

The subject was new even to me; Muslim children who don’t speak Arabic compete in reciting the Koran.

When Bin Laden was killed, a “Washington Post” columnist wrote that, for better or for worst, Bin Laden made millions of Americans aware of Islam.

My plan for a memoir book includes a chapter about the Koran: when I learned, and recited it first; when I, after leaving the village, forgot the whole thing; and when, after former President George Bush’s so-called “war on terrorism,” I returned to the Koran.

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NEWS: HBO: MUSLIM CHILREN RECITE THE KORAN (HBO WEBSITE):

Beyond the sensationalistic headlines, the very recent Twitter trending of “#Muslims” and the Western world’s common misconceptions about Islam lies the reality that nearly 1.5 billion Muslims inhabit this earth.

Representing a fifth of the world’s population, the followers of Islam are an irrefutable force to be reckoned with. And the Koran is their Holy Book, driving at once their political, personal and religious choices.

Greg Barker’s thought-provoking documentary sheds light on some of the important facts many of us may never otherwise know (like that all followers of Islam learn the same Arabic version of the Koran, regardless of their native language).

Barker followed three amazing ten-year-olds — Rifdha, a girl from the Maldives, Nabiollah, a boy from Tajikistan and Djamil, a boy from Senegal — on their incredible journey navigating through Egypt’s International Holy Koran Competition. A prestigious yearly competition which is held in Cairo and brings together 110 young students from over 70 countries during the month of Ramadan.

In the competition, these young men and women are asked to recite random passages from the Koran, from memory, which is a daunting task considering most of the children do not speak Arabic in their home countries and the Koran is made up of 30 Sections, 114 Chapters and 6,236 verses!

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NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: SOUTH SUDAN CHRISTIANS AND RAMADAN

Last July 9, the Sudan was partitioned after a referendum in January overwhelmingly supported a new state, the Republic of South Sudan. That was the worst day in my life. I felt sad and angry, sad because my native country, the Sudan, was partitioned and angry because my adopted country, the US, played a major role in the partition process.

Few years after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, I was convinced that the so-called “war on terrorism” that was declared by former President George W. Bush has been but a subtle and indirect war on Muslims (if not on Islam).

As for Sudan, at the beginning, Bush played a positive role in mediating between the Northerners and Southerners to end a decades-long war and to sign a peace treaty in 2005. But, later, he, influenced mostly by Christian and Jewish lobbies and the Black Caucus in the Congress, and with the growing Islamophobia that seems to have engulfed America, sided with the mostly Christian Southerners (to protect them) and didn’t pressure the two sides not to partition the country.

A combination of Islamphobia fever and the “war on terrorism” seems to have been the main reason.

Today, I was impressed by a congratulation letter from the President of South Sudan to the President of Sudan because of the beginning of Ramadan. Here is a Southern Christian warmly congratulates his Muslim former countryman.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so sad and angry because of the partition, and should have had some hope that, despite the US role, the Muslims Northerners and Christian Southerners are still “brothers.”

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NEWS: SOUTH SUDAN’S PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES SUDAN MUSLIMS ON RAMADAN:

H.E. Field Marshal Omer Hassan Al-Bashir,

President of the Republic of the Sudan,

Khartoum,

SUDAN

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of South Sudan and on my own behalf, allow me to convey to you our profound Message of well wishes during this commencement of the one month long fasting by the Muslim faithful to you, your family, and all fellow brothers and sisters of the Republic of the Sudan. Ramadan kareem! Indeed this is the month where our devoted members of the Muslim Community will intimately journey with God through fasting and prayers as they meditate on the omnipotent wisdom and guidance of the Almighty God. It is a moment of communal sharing and the longing to share with the needy of the society.

Mr. President, it is my prayers that this moment of fasting during Ramadan may inspire us to reflect on God’s wisdom and generosity over humankind. May God also endow the members of the Muslim Community with tolerance and patience and guide them to embrace God even more. As leaders, this is the time to reexamine the way we make decisions and ask God’s abundant guidance while discharging our daily duties.

Please, my brother President Al-Bashir, I will be with you in spirit and prayers during this holy season of Ramadan fasting.

Yours sincerely,

Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit,

President of the Republic of South Sudan

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

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Message of Well Wishes to Republic of South Sudan Muslims

My dear brothers and sisters Muslim faithful, on behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of South Sudan and on my own behalf, allow me to convey to you our deep message of well wishes during this commencement of the one month long fasting. Ramadan kareem! This season is historical because it is the first fasting you will have in our newly independent nation. This is also the month where you as devoted members of the Muslim Community will intimately journey with God through fasting and prayers as well as meditate on the omnipotent wisdom and guidance of the Almighty God. It is indeed a moment of communal sharing and the longing to share with the needy of the society.

Therefore, it is my earnest prayer that this moment of fasting during Ramadan may inspire us all as a nation to reflect on God’s wisdom and generosity over humankind. May God also bequeath you our members of the Muslim Community with tolerance and patience and guide you to embrace God even more. As a new nation, this is the time to reexamine the way we behave and with faith solicit God’s abundant guidance in relations with one another.

Please, accept my very best wishes and I will be with you in spirit and prayers during this holy season of Ramadan fasting.

Yours sincerely,

Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit,

President of the Republic of South Sudan

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: NORWAY’S BREIVIK IS NOT CHRISTIAN TERRORIST

This journalist, since 2008, occasionally stands in front of the White House holding a huge sign that says on one side:” WHAT IS TERRORISM?” and on the other side: “WHAT IS ISLAM?” And also says that I will continue doing this “UNTIL I DIE!”

So, I am very much tempted to ask the same question that AP’s journalist Jesse Washington asked, referring to Norway’s Anders BreIvik: “Christian terrorist?”

(Read below).

But, I don’t think that I will “fall in this trap” because:

First, I have come to believe that the so-called “war on terrorism” that was declared by former President George W. Bush in 2001 is put a subtle and indirect war on Muslims (if not on Islam).

Second, until this day, the UN has failed to define “terrorism,” and every country seems to have its own definition.

Therefore:

First, terrorism has been, actually and psychologically, connected to Muslims. And this, I am afraid, will continue for a long time. Thanks to the power of the US government, media and culture.

Second, because there is no specific definition of “terrorism,” it shouldn’t be applied to anyone, including Norway’s BreIvik.

So, it seems to me that fellow journalist Washington was a little inaccurate (he didn’t define “terrorism”). He asked the experts questions about “terrorism” and they seemed to have “fallen in the trap.” Or maybe not; their premises were that there were relations between “terrorism” and the Muslims. Which, in a way, confirms Washington’s opinion.

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NEWS: CHRISTIAN TERRORISM? JESSE WASHINGTON – AP (Exceprts):

When the “enemy” is different, an outsider, it’s easier to draw quick conclusions, to develop stereotypes. It’s simply human nature: There is “us,” and there is “them.” But what happens when the enemy looks like us — from the same tradition and belief system?

That is the conundrum in the case of Norway and Anders Behring Breivik, who is being called a “Christian extremist” or “Christian terrorist.”

As westerners wrestle with such characterizations of the Oslo mass murder suspect, the question arises: Nearly a decade after 9/11 created a widespread suspicion of Muslims based on the actions of a fanatical few, is this what it’s like to walk a mile in the shoes of stereotype?

“Absolutely,” said Mark Kelly Tyler, pastor of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. “It clearly puts us in a position where we can’t simply say that extreme and violent behavior associated with a religious belief is somehow restricted to Muslim extremists”…

Psychologists say stereotypes come from a deeply human impulse to categorize other people, usually into groups of “us” and “them.”

“Our brains are wired that way,” said Cheryl Dickter, a psychology professor at the College of William & Mary who studies stereotypes and prejudice.

When Dickter examined brain waves, she found that people process information and pictures about their “us” group differently compared with information about “them” groups. People remembered information better when it reinforced their stereotypes of other groups, she said, and when information didn’t fit their stereotype, it was often explained or simply forgotten.

“That’s how stereotypes get maintained in the face of all this (contradictory) information,” Dickter said…

In a column for Salon.com, Alex Pareene said Breivik is not an American-style evangelical, but he listed other connections to Christianity. “All of this says ‘Christian terrorist,’” Pareene wrote…

Art Markman, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said research shows that when people are asked to describe someone else’s behavior, they focus on personal characteristics — who that person is. But when asked to describe their own behavior, people focus on their individual situation.

“If you’re a Christian and you see this Norway murderer, you say, I have these teachings and I haven’t murdered anyone, so the teachings can’t be the problem,” Markman said. “But if you’re talking about the ‘other,’ it’s different. And if you don’t know what the actual Muslim teachings are, it seems like a plausible explanation”…

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NEWS AND VIEWS

VIEWS: “WHAT IS TERRORISM?”

Anders Breivik’s crime in Norway seems appropriate to ask: “What is terrorism?” “The Washington Post” today’s editorial used words like “terrible carnage,” “tragedy” and “killer.” But the editorial insisted that Breivik “acted alone and didn’t collaborate with anyone.”

“The New York Times,” to its credit, went further and said that “individuals are, of course, responsible for their actions, but are influenced by the public debate surrounding them.

NEWS: EDITORIALS:

“THE WASHINGTON POST” EDITORIAL:

… In the hours after the bombing and shooting massacre Friday numerous commentators rushed to the conclusion prematurely that Muslim extremists were to blame. There was considerable speculation about why Norway would have been targeted: its participation in NATO’s Afghanistan mission?

Once Mr. Breivik was revealed to be a right-wing anti-Muslim extremist and self-styled crusader, the rush began to tar right-wing European political parties and “counter-jihad” Web sites in the United States with his evil.

So it seems worth underlining that, to date, there is no evidence that Mr. Breivik collaborated with anyone — and plenty that he is a deeply deranged individual…

“THE NEW YORK TIMES” EDITORIAL:

… Individuals are responsible for their actions. But they are influenced by public debate and the extent to which that debate makes ideas acceptable — or not. Even mainstream politicians in Europe, including Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France have sown doubts about the ability or willingness of Europe to absorb newcomers. Multiculturalism “has failed, utterly failed,” Mrs. Merkel said last October…

NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: MURDOCH, FOX TV AND THE MUSLIMS

While watching yesterday’s British Parliament’s investigation of Rupert Murdoch and his son, I many times angrily pounded my fist on the desk because I remembered Fox TV’s coverage of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its aftermath.

Particularly “Fox & Friends,” which, after 9/11 added an additional hour to the beginning of the weekday show, and branded it as a separate program called Fox & Friends First. It was the first FNC programs to air live for the day, starting at 6:00

I remember Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and the blond-between-them Gretchen Carlson.

I didn’t watch many shows after feeling sick of what I believe was the group’s hate of Islam and Muslims.

I remember that I, trying to calm myself, used to switch to listen to the Koran.

So, yesterday as I watched Murdoch being grilled and called “greedy,” I felt a sort of revenge, not only because his brand of journalism was sensational and conservative, but, also because of Fox News negative Muslims coverage.

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MURDOCH GRILLED IN BRITISH PARLIAMENT, CLAMIED INNOCENCE AND SORRY: “THE WASHINGTON POST” (Excerpts):

LONDON — Calling it “the most humble day” of his life, Rupert Murdoch and his son confronted angry lawmakers Tuesday, insisting they did not know the scope of phone hacking at their News of the World tabloid and apologizing for being the source of one of the worst crises in the history of British media…

On a day of reckoning for News Corp. in Britain, Rupert Murdoch, a baron of the conservative press whose media empire runs from Fox News to the saucy old tabloids of Fleet Street, put himself forward to face a nation’s fury. Murdoch repeatedly pounded his hand on a table at the select parliamentary committee hearing as he testified but appeared removed from day-to-day details of the scandal and unprepared for the almost forensic lines of questioning.

The drama in the chamber, already at a peak, took a surreal turn when a man yelled “greedy” while tossing a plate of shaving cream at the 80-year-old Murdoch, prompting his wife, Wendi Murdoch (42-year-old) to leap out of her chair and belt the attacker. The melee forced a temporary suspension of a session watched by millions on both sides of the Atlantic …

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NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: JEWISH LOBBY, ISALMIC LOBBY

Of course, if the Kashmiri American Council, the major – but very tiny — Kashmiri lobby in Washington, has broken the lobbying laws, its leaders should be punished.

But, the big picture should not be neglected; the lobby was established mainly to explain the injustice that has been inflicted on the Kashmiris.

In 1947 when the Indian sub-continent was divided into India and Pakistan, religion was the major factors; millions of Muslims lefts India to Pakistan and millions of Hindus went the opposite direction. The two countries fought over the mostly Muslim Kashmir, then a ceasefire line was established and the UN called for a referendum that Pakistan accepted and India refused.

For decades, the US was neutral on the issue, but, during about half-a-century of the Cold War, was a strong ally of Pakistan against socialist and pro-Moscow India.

Then came 9/11 and the so-called “war on terrorism” that was declared in 2001 by former President George W. Bush — and is continuing — and which I have come to believe is but a subtle and indirect war on Muslims (if not on Islam).

Bush established an alliance with India, and was supported – if not inspired – by what I call Washington Jewish Leaders (WJL) who have been exploiting 9/11 Muslims attacks to spoil the US relations with the Muslims.

So, Kashmir’s struggle for justice seems, in the eyes of India and the US, identified with “terrorism.”

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NEWS: PRO-PAKISTAN LOBBY LEADERS ARRESTED: “THE WASHINGTON POST” (Excerpts):

Pakistani intelligence services have secretly spent millions of dollars through a front group over the past 20 years to lobby Congress and the White House and funnel contributions to members of both parties, according to Justice Department charges unveiled Tuesday…

The center of the alleged scheme was the Kashmiri American Council and its executive director, Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, who is accused in federal court documents of acting under the direct supervision of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency.

A criminal complaint filed in Alexandria against Fai and a second defendant, Zaheer Ahmad, outlines a long-running and elaborate plot in which Pakistani intelligence officials exercised de facto control over the Kashmiri council, which sponsored well-attended conferences in Washington, organized congressional trips to Kashmir and met with State Department and White House officials.

In total, the FBI estimates that the group received up to $700,000 per year from Pakistani government sources, according to the complaint. The nonprofit group reported much smaller budgets in its annual reports to the Internal Revenue Service…

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NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: THE FEAR OF MUSLIMS LEADS TO THIS

This is a paragraph from the draft of my planned memoir book (suggested title: “Islam, the West and Me: From Madrassa to Monastery”):

“Since few years after the invasion of Iraq, I have come to believe that the so-called “war on terrorism” that was declared by former President George W. Bush has been but a subtle and indirect war on Muslims (if not on Islam). The US had invaded and occupied two Muslims countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), bombarded two Muslim countries (Somalia and Pakistan), threatened to bombard three Muslim countries (Iran, Syria and Sudan), and killed, injured, arrested, tortured, spied on, suspected, harassed and insulted many Muslims all over the world.

Here in the US, the fear of Islam and the Muslims (Islamophobia) seems to have settled for a long time to come, I am afraid.”

Please read the following news item to see the extent of “war on terrorism” and “Islamophobia.”

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NEWS: SECURITY FOR ENTERING THE US IS LAYER AFTER LAYER AFTER LAYER: “THE WASHINGTON POST” (Excerpts):

The multilayered, multifaceted and multinational security system that has been constructed to protect the United States from terrorists led to denial of visas to 2.2 million of 9 million foreign applicants last year…

1.An additional 2,600 individuals with outstanding visas for the United States were identified by the National Targeting Center run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as having new derogatory information developed about them. That information was passed on to airlines with a recommendation that these high-risk individuals not be permitted to board U.S.-bound aircraft… The CBP generates nearly 200 targets a day for its center, causing research to determine whether these individuals are indeed high risk…

2. A new State Department Internet platform, called the Consular Electronic Application Center …permits electronic submission of applications and photos, allowing review before applicants appear for required personal interviews.

The online forms are “smart” … which means “irregular” answers are flagged to ensure that officers address them in the interview. Each applicant has an electronic scan of the index finger of each hand, and should a person have a cut, blister or skin injury, a visa will not be issued until a fingerprint can be taken.

3. At the consular office, names are checked against the Consular Lookout and Support System, State’s database of 39 million cases that hold derogatory information about 27 million individuals…

4. An estimated 1 million names of known or suspected terrorists are in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center…

5. The DHS’s United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) has biographic data based on prior arrival and departure information. It is also connected to the FBI’s criminal master file of some 69 million identities.

US-VISIT also has an automated storage and analytic system known at IDENT, which matches digital fingerprints and photographs with its own watchlist of 6.2 million known or suspected terrorists, as well as criminal and immigration violators.

6. The Defense Department’s Automated Biometric Identification System contains not just fingerprints of foreign combatants taken on the battlefields but also latent fingerprints retrieved from IED (improvised explosive device) fragments…

7. The State Department since 2009 has been using electronic facial recognition techniques on all visa applications. It now has 142 million images in its database. It is expanding the system with iris recognition technology…

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NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: SUSAN RICE AND SUDAN’S PARTITION

In my planned book (suggested title: “Islam, the West and Me: From Madrassa to Monastery”), as I entered my fourth decade in America, there will be many references to Black Americans:

During my first decade (when I was “stranger in a strange land”), we were strangers to each other.

During my second decade, when I became an American citizen and wondered whether I would be part of Black America, our shared skin color wasn’t enough couldn’t win over deep cultural, religious and historical differences. Also, I have come to believe that Black Americans are very much pre-occupied with slavery, discrimination, the color of their skin and the N-word.

During my third decade, after 9/11 attacks, many of the Blacks seemed to understand the Arabs’ and the Muslims’ anger at the US policies, mostly because of the shared injustice that was inflicted on all of them by the West. But, some Black leaders, especially the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) seemed to have grudges against the Muslims and the Arabs. When the civil war in Sudan became part of the “war on terrorism” and of Islamophobia, some in the CBC became more antagonistic towards the Muslim Arab North.

One of them is Susan Rice, State Department’s under-secretary for Africa in Clinton administration and now, in Obama administration, ambassador to the UN. Her anti-Arab and Muslims opinions continued even after she achieved her goal: the partition of Sudan; not one word about the North in this address as South Sudan was recognized by the UN.

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NEWS: STATE DEPARTMENT: AMB. SUSAN RICE ADDRESSING THE UN ON SOUTH SUDAN (Excerpts):

… This historic and hopeful day was reached only after great suffering and almost unimaginable loss. The independence of the world’s newest country is a testament to the people of South Sudan. It is also an inspiration to all who yearn for freedom. May the memory of your own struggle, for liberty, always serve as a reminder to insist on the universal rights of all people, to remember those still in shackles, to lift up the hungry and the desperate, and to bring hope to the broken places of the world.

Your statehood is new, but your friendship is not. The bonds between the American people and the people of South Sudan go back many decades. The United States will remain a steadfast friend as South Sudan works to pursue peace, to strengthen its democracy, and provide opportunity and prosperity to all its citizens. We look forward to working alongside South Sudan as it shoulders the rights and responsibilities of a full and sovereign member of the community of nations…

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NEWS AND VIEWS:

VIEWS: TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR MY BOOK

As I am sending to many publishing agents my book proposals (suggested Title: “Islam, the West and Me: From “madrassa” to monastery”), I could deduct from my income taxes the book’s expenses, according to an advice I have just found.

(See below).

Actually, I could have deducted many years of expenses on my website, and on books, meals, taxis expenses that my newspaper didn’t refund me for.

In my planned book, the first chapter is about almost two decades in the village where I was born and grew-up. I am planning to go back to the village later this year; I should be able to deduct the visit expenses.

Also, the last chapter is on the annual Caribbean cruises during which I learned more about the West and the Westerners. I am planning to take “Queen Victoria,” one of the World’s top cruise ships, and compare it to “Queen Victoria,” the River Nile’s coal-driven paddle ship that I took when leaving my village to the outside world. I should be able to deduct the cruise expense.

Of course, I have to be careful; the advice below says: “Be careful and be honest. Claiming you bought a new boat to learn how to water-ski so that you can write about water-skiing will not cut it, but nearly everything else will fly.”

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NEWS: TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR WRITERS: PAMELA THIBODEAUX

… Unpublished or new writers may be thinking, “Oh, I’m not published so I don’t need to worry about that yet.”

Wrong. IRS rules state that you can claim a tax loss for business expenses even if you’re unpublished.

Some will say that you MUST show a profit, otherwise it is considered a hobby. Wrong! According to my tax advisor, the CPA’s I’ve talked to and those I’ve worked with, the rule states “as long as you can prove you are actively pursuing a career in writing” and as long as the expenses are considered “necessary business expenses” they are deductible…

Most writers will use a Schedule C or Profit and Loss statement to file their business tax. This form is found in your 1040 forms and instructions book or from your local IRS office. You can file a 1040 form with a Schedule C and still take standard deductions in lieu of itemizing. The “Principal Business or Professional Activity Code” (711510) is listed in your 1040 book under the Performing Arts section.

How do you prove you’re “actively pursuing a career in writing” and what are “necessary business expenses”? Here are a few examples:

1. Send letters to agents or editors. Keep a copy and staple their reply to your copy. Postage is deductible as well as return postage on your SASE. Do this via email? Print out a copy of your email query and their response.

2. Buy writing-related books (Writers Market Guide or “how to” books). These are all legitimate expenses. Office supplies (paper, ink, envelopes, business cards, etc.) are also valid expenditures. Have an office set up in your home for your writing? You may be able to write off a portion of your rent or house note and utility bills.

3. Join a writers group. Membership dues are tax deductible. Gas mileage is tax deductible when you travel to meetings or conferences even if your vehicle is normally used everyday. Meals are also tax deductible as long as the meal was business related.

4. Go to a writers conference. Conference fees, hotel expenses, gas mileage and meals are all deductible expenses even for unpublished writers.

5. Have a website? Any fees related to the creation, development and maintenance of this website are tax deductible.

6. Take vacation with your family. Combine this with a little networking by visiting the local writers group.

7. Visit the library, museum, or any other place that you could claim as research. Talk to celebrities, authors and media about your book even if it’s not published. Collect business cards as verification that this was a “working” vacation.

8. Do your children help you by doing research, proof reading, or taking on extra chores so that you have time to write? Their allowance may be deductible. You can pay for contract labor up to $600 per year without providing a 1099 and student income does not have to be reported along with the parent’s income!

9. Pay a housekeeper or babysitter so that you have time to write. All or part of this may be deductible.

10. Pay a CPA or Tax Consultant to do your taxes? Pay for an evaluation or professional critique of your work? These are considered professional fees and services and are tax deductible.

PUBLISHED A BOOK?

Here are some additional items that can be written off as expenses:

1. Promotional expenses (brochures, flyers, press kits, press releases, etc. etc.)

2. Books donated to libraries or given away for promotional purposes (sent to Oprah, swapped with another author, donated for fund raisers, etc) may be deducted at retail value.

3. Books bought for research.

4. Dry-cleaning those nice clothes you wear for speaking engagements, book signings or other author appearances.

5. Postage and/or shipping fees for books sent to wholesalers, retailers, readers, reviewers, etc.

6. Agent fees and commissions.

7. Self-Published or E-published and have to buy copies of your book to resale? Set up costs, cover art, and the charge for producing (or buying) the books are tax deductible!

Remember, if it falls under “Necessary Business Expense” it is deductible!

Worried about being audited? Don’t.

Be careful and be honest. Claiming you bought a new boat to learn how to water-ski so that you can write about water-skiing will not cut it, but nearly everything else will fly.

Most important: good record keeping.

It’s never too early or too late to get organized for tax season. Remember, tax laws change yearly. For more information visit the IRS website @ www.irs.gov.

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Pamela S. Thibodeaux is a member of Bayou Writers Group and ACRW (American Christian Romance Writers). Her writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!”

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