CPAs Share Filers’ 'Creative' Tax Deductions
MINNEAPOLIS -- The kinds of deductions U.S. taxpayers hope to get in under the radar can be all over the map, a new survey has found. Everything from swimming pools and poodle manicures have turned up as possibilities.
"Creativity is rewarded in many parts of society, but not by the IRS," said Barbara Steinhauser, chairwoman of the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, which conducted the survey. "And many of the creative deductions our members identified in the survey would've resulted in intervention by the IRS had a CPA not interceded and encouraged the tax filers to remove them from their tax returns. Claiming an error on your tax calculations because tax preparation software said it was 'OK' is not an acceptable defense with the IRS.”
Here is the latest list of strange -- and unacceptable -- deductions clients proposed last year:
- A ballerina was surprised to discover that she couldn't deduct the cost of a tummy tuck.
- One woman attempted to deduct Botox expenses as an "image enhancement" expense. Not a smooth move.
- Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Just don't try to claim your manicures as a business expense, as one pianist proposed.
- A farmer who tried to claim food and veterinary expenses for his toy poodle as a farm-building "guard dog" was barking up the wrong tree.
- One woman took a chance on deducting gambling losses from bingo as a charity donation. Mark that down as another gambling loss.
- Many reasons for deducting the cost of a swimming pool were offered by several taxpayers, but they didn't all float.
- While children/dependents are considered an acceptable deduction, one filer failed to realize that he needed to actually have children/dependents to claim them.
- Try to deduct tanning-bed expenses, as one filer did, and you'll get burned every time.
- One woman hoped to shed some pounds and add a deduction by writing off the cost of "zumba" exercise classes. She succeeded with the first, but not the second.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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