2024 Fall WALA CES: Tax Strategies for Artists & Creatives (Session #4)

A series for creatives of all kinds who want to take the next step in their professional career by creating their own business.
About this Event

WALA Creative Entrepreneurs Series)

(Legal Issues for Creative Entrepreneurs)

WALA’s Creative Entrepreneurs Series is a series for creatives of all kinds who want to take the next step in their professional career by creating their own business. Explore the basics of forming a business for your creative endeavors, from deciding whether to incorporate as a non-profit or for-profit entity, to understanding copyrights and trademarks, to contract and negotiation skills, and finally to taxes and understanding the grants process.

The series comprises of six sessions to be held on *consecutive Tuesdays, starting Tuesday, September 17, 2024 and continuing through Tuesday, October 22, 2024 from 11am – 1pm.

• Session #5: Tuesday, October 8, 2024 ~ Tax Strategies for Artists & Creatives

(Select this date to attend this session)

Presentation and Q & A with:

Benjamin Grosz, Benjamin Takis, Jonathan Holbrook, and Harrison Richards

"Pursuing your art as a business can be daunting, and one of the biggest challenges is understanding the tax laws. Between the many types of federal and state taxes that apply to your business, it is easy to make a mistake that can set back your business for years."

"Benjamin Takis, Benjamin Grosz, Jonathan Holbrook, and Harrison Richards each having active experience in the arts in addition to practicing as tax attorneys, will provide an overview of the federal income tax, a guide to the different business structures you should consider, as well as more advanced federal tax issues relevant to artists in the Washington, DC area."

Benjamin Takis is the founding attorney of Takis Nonprofit Law PLLC, a law firm specializing in tax, corporate governance, employment issues and business transactions for non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs. Since 2006, Ben has devoted his career to representing non-profit organizations and tax-exempt entities. Ben honed his skills as an associate at the premier Washington D.C. labor firm Bredhoff & Kaiser and the leading employee benefits boutique Groom Law Group. At Bredhoff and Groom, Ben represented some of the largest pension funds, health care trusts, and labor organizations in the country, along with public charities, lobbying groups, trade associations, and other non-profit organizations of all types and sizes. Visit Takis Nonprofit Law PLLC online at

Benjamin Grosz is a partner with Ivins, Phillips & Barker, where he advises clients on a broad range of federal income, estate and gift tax planning matters, as well as employee benefits issues. Before law school, Ben started his own financial planning business. Prior to that he was a business manager at Capital One Financial Corporation, where he developed strategy and analysis for its credit card and banking businesses. His experiences in starting his own financial planning business and developing business strategy for Capital One help him understand the needs of clients ranging from entrepreneurs to large corporations. Although lacking the talent to be a professional artist, Ben spent years singing with various choirs and has had the privilege to sing at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap, and the good fortune to participate in a singing “tour de France” with one of his college choirs.

Jonathan Holbrook is a partner with Ivins, Phillips & Barker. His practice focuses on high-stakes federal tax issues facing businesses, with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to publicly traded companies in a variety of industries. Clients engage Jon throughout the income tax lifecycle for assistance in planning transactions, developing reporting positions, assessing refund opportunities, and defending positions in tax controversy scenarios. As a student at Harvard Law School, Jonathan co-founded HLS Effective Altruism, advised low-income taxpayers through Harvard’s Federal Tax Clinic and was a winner of the 61st annual Williston Negotiation Competition.

Harrison Richards is an associate with Ivins, Phillips & Barker where he focuses on a wide range of tax, trust and estate, and employee benefits matters. Harrison graduated magna cum laude from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. While at Northwestern, Harrison worked on commercial-law reform in the Middle East with the U.S. Department of Commerce, drafted tax incentives for a major state green energy bill with the Northwestern Environmental Advocacy Clinic, and served as the Vice President of the Northwestern Tax Law Society.

Prior to law school, Harrison worked as an economic consultant, applying economic analysis in high-stakes litigation disputes. In his free time, Harrison expresses his creativity through baking and cooking.

Visit Ivins, Phillips & Barker online at

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The 2024 Fall Creative Entrepreneurs Series is FREE for *WALA members.
*$20 per workshop for non-members.
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