The same is true for many prestigious arts awards, such as the $100,000 Archibald Prize for portraits.
Making arts prizes, grants and fellowships tax-free is a widely supported measure among those to be discussed at the NSW government's landmark arts tax summit at the Sydney Opera House on Friday.
Other ideas thrown up in more than 300 submissions to the forum include a national lottery to fund arts and culture, and increasing the tax deductibility of arts donations to 150 per cent.
Australia's creative industries are worth more than $122 billion according to the NSW government, yet figures from Creative Australia show a typical artist income is little more than $54,000 with a bit less than one-third of that coming from non-arts sources.
"There's a general environment for the arts at the moment of struggling," said Skye Predavec, one of the authors of the Australia Institute's submission to the summit.
Among the think tank's suggested measures to help the sector are the return of subsidies for printing books in Australia, and a cultural voucher program so individual spending on the arts is partly paid for by government.
The tax forum is expected to produce recommendations for the next National Cultural Policy, due in 2028. While ideas such as tax-free arts prizes would require federal government implementation, voucher initiatives could be funded by state governments, said Predavec.
The summit comes after protests in Sydney over cuts at the Art Gallery of NSW, with more than 50 jobs expected to be lost, three years after the gallery opened its $344 million Sydney Modern precinct.
In June, the state government announced a plan to cut a quarter of staff from its arts funding agency, Create NSW.
Discontent over these measures will likely raise its head at the forum, according to Predavec, who cautioned that funding cuts in NSW are not the bigger picture.
"What is important is the systemic failing by Australian governments to not fund the arts enough, when we are giving support to other industries that don't need it and don't deserve it."
As for the live performance sector, one popular proposal is production cost incentives modelled on those for the screen industry.
Ticket purchases to some shows could also be treated as tax-deductible donations, and tickets could also be sold without being subject to GST.
Music rights organisation APRA AMCOS has also called for live music tax offsets.
"This represents a moon-shot opportunity for Australia to lean in and become a net exporter of music," said its chief executive Dean Ormston.
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