If you’ve ever watched a great film or sat in a theater and been completely transported, you’ve seen what this industry can do at its best.

It’s something we’re proud of. But behind that experience isn’t just glamour, it’s a workforce made up largely of middle-class Americans doing practical, often unpredictable work.

Most people in entertainment aren’t celebrities. They’re skilled, working professionals — actors, stage managers, dancers and technicians — who piece together a living one job at a time. They take pride in that. Nobody’s asking for sympathy for choosing a competitive field. But there’s a difference between accepting the nature of the work and being unfairly penalized for it. 

Here’s the reality: Before many of these professionals earn a single paycheck, they’ve already spent money just to be in the game. Headshots, classes, self-tape equipment, travel to auditions – these aren’t luxuries; they’re the basic cost of doing the job. And agents and managers commissions can gobble up to 30 percent of each paycheck. Unlike many traditional professions, those costs aren’t reliably covered or reimbursed. 

And it adds up. Work-related expenses can easily reach 20 percent to 30 percent of an artist’s annual income. 

Now, nobody in this business is asking to be exempt from taxes. That’s not the point. The point is simpler: You shouldn’t have to subsidize the cost of working in your own profession. Those who work in the entertainment industry should be on a level playing field with other American workers.

That used to be the case.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan, himself a former president of SAG, signed into law a provision that recognized this exact issue. The Qualified Performing Artist Deduction allowed middle-income artists to deduct the necessary expenses of their trade. It was a practical, bipartisan acknowledgment that this line of work comes with unique, unavoidable costs. 

But there was one problem: The income cap was never adjusted for inflation. 

Today, that cap is still set at $16,000 a year — just $40 above the poverty line. As a result, the overwhelming majority of working performers no longer qualify. What was once a sensible policy has quietly become obsolete. 

That’s not a failure of principle; it’s a failure to update the math. 

The solution is straightforward. The Performing Artists Tax Parity Act (PATPA) would raise the income threshold to $100,000 and index it to inflation going forward. It restores the original intent of the law: targeted relief for middle-income workers in the entertainment industry. 

This isn’t about special treatment. It’s about equal treatment. 

The entertainment industry is a major part of the American economy, generating hundreds of billions of dollars each year and supporting jobs across every state. But, more importantly, the people who make it run are the same people you find in any community – all of them working, budgeting and trying to build a stable life. 

They accept the uncertainty that comes with the job. What they shouldn’t have to accept is a tax code that treats necessary work expenses as if they don’t exist. Updating this policy won’t solve every challenge facing working artists. But it will fix something that’s clearly out of date and do it in a way that’s fair, practical and long overdue. 

That’s something everyone, regardless of industry, should be able to agree on.

Brooke Shields is president of Actors’ Equity Association, the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers working in the theatre and other performing arts. Shields comes to union leadership with a long career that has ranged from acting and modeling to writing and entrepreneurship.

Sean Astin was elected SAG-AFTRA president on Sept. 12, 2025. In an acting career that’s spanned four decades, Astin has portrayed audience-beloved characters ranging from Mikey Walsh in The Goonies to Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Astin holds a B.A. in history and English from UCLA and a master’s in public administration and policy from American University.