A bunch of you have been sending me the link to this article on MSNBC last week:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39641413/ns/business-us_business/

All I kept thinking when I read it was This is going to piss a lot of artists off who don't want the IRS looking into their books.

Aside from the most annoying of opening lines to any tattoo article [yes, yes, we know tattoos don't belong to sailors and convicts anymore!] and the word "tats" [shoot me now], these little tidbits are not going to make studio owners and tattooists happy who like to keep their business close to the vest:

"Several years ago Inc. estimated there were about 15,000 tattoo parlors in America, making somewhere north of $2.3 billion annually."

"Joe Miller, owner of Old Larimer Street Tattoo in Denver, says that he's currently taking home about $125,000 annually...He says his tattoo artist colleagues average about $50,000 a year, and a good number scrape by on less than half that."

And Scottie DeVille, owner of Th'ink Tank Tattoo in Denver, says "Since we've opened, our profits have increased about 10 percent per year. In 2008, the average hourly [rate per artist] was $120. Today the average is $150."

What do you think about artists and others in the community giving out these numbers to the press? Will the IRS crack down on tattooists? Do you think the government is already on to this? Does it matter?