On deducting haircuts and sperm donations

Many people are loading up to fire some strange tax write offs at the Internal Revenue Service this tax season. From flattop haircuts to human sperm donations, auditors have seen it all. Don’t do as they do, but enjoy this compilation of some of the craziest tax write offs attempted by United States taxpayers. Article resource - Bizarre tax deductions to brighten your tax day by MoneyBlogNewz.

Not business expense

There was a minister that CPA Ken Sibley knew of. He told Bankrate the male tried to get tax deductions for his travel and entertainment expenses. Supposedly there were real estate properties the minister was looking into. He never purchased any of them though. It was not business expenditure.

Marrying

Getting married is not enough to deduct expenditures. It can’t be a part of business expenditures being deducted. Clients attending the wedding doesn’t make it business related. A Massachusetts CPA said it won’t work, no matter how you swing it. And remember: your betrothed is not a charity, so you can’t count wedding expenditures as charitable contributions, either.

30 year recovery

There was business manager who bought a $2 million office building, according to a New Jersey CPA Don Meyer. The business manager was planning on deducting it as business expenditure in that tax year. The business manager was at a loss though since the complete expenditure would take over 30 years to recover. Even a suitcase full of money and an ominous admonition to “make it work” could not change the tax law.

Securing a lifetime of tax money

You cannot claim pets as security expense although you can deduct things are home for business expenditures. Home security systems in general do not fly with the Internal Revenue Service, either, says the Hunter Group of Fair Lawn, N.J. One woman said that if somebody came into her home and killed her, she wouldn’t be able to pay taxes anymore which mean she should be able to deduct her home security system.

Adult magazines certainly do not count

Tax write offs for dues and subscriptions to professional and trade publications do work. You must be in that field though. As long as the 2 percent floor rule, or 2 percent of your adjusted gross income, is followed, they can be put un miscellaneous write offs, Quizlaw explained. However, if you’re a self-employed real estate professional who is attempting to write off adult magazines under the dues and subscriptions deduction rule, take a long, hard look in the mirror and reconsider, claims another Massachusetts CPA. There was a prostitute client that Don Meyer had once. Declaring her income was significant to her. She said her job was in “public relations.”

Citations

Bankrate

bankrate.com/finance/taxes/10-craziest-tax-deductions-for-2011-1.aspx

IRS

irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=204169,00.html

Quizlaw

quizlaw.com/federal_income_tax/can_i_deduct_dues_and_subscrip.php