 Artists who are sometimes paid an amount equal to or greater than $200 and other times paid less than that amount can only claim the instances on which he or she received over $200.On the opposite end of the spectrum, artists who have an AGI more than $16,000 in a taxable year before this deduction are not allowed to take this deduction.This excludes well-known performing artists who make a large amount of income from playing shows from deducting their income therefrom.