What does it actually mean to live from music in Estonia? For an independent musician, the answer is more complicated than it sounds. I have recently been fortunate enough to experience something that many musicians dream of: I can live from my music. I compose, produce, perform, write, run a music label and organise concerts. After years of combining music with other jobs, I finally have the freedom to make my living from the thing I have always wanted to do. It sounds wonderful. Well, it is wonderful. But it is also a struggle that is rarely visible from the outside. As an independent artist and entrepreneur, I do not simply receive money for making music. I have to create that income through my company, pay the costs of running the business, pay taxes, and then pay myself a salary. There is no employer absorbing the administrative and financial burden behind my work. I am simultaneously the artist, producer, promoter, employer and employee. At the moment, my income is modest. I pay myself roughly €900 because that is what my business can realistically sustain. Yet for my company to pay me that amount, the actual cost is around €1,370. Approximately €470 goes towards social tax and other mandatory employment related payments. And this comes after VAT has already taken its share of my business activity. That is the part of the discussion that is often missing when we talk about taxation. #estonia #estonianculture #music #tax #eutax #musictax #concert https://tunitemusic.com/post/an-independent-artists-view-of-estonias-24-vat/
