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We’re From the IRS & We’d Like to Ask you Some Questions: Weird Tax Deductions You Should Avoid Claiming

You wouldn’t believe some of the things people try to claim as tax deductions. Spatulas? Hair plugs? Really?

Were From the IRS & Wed Like to Ask you Some Questions: Weird Tax Deductions You Should Avoid Claiming“Wait! Those don’t count?”

Personally, we follow the “if it feels like a stretch, then it probably is” rule. But maybe you have something out of the ordinary that you think is a legitimate deduction and you want to claim it. That’s your prerogative. Just know this: if it is a stretch, it could be illegal, which means you could face “the serious possibility of having the Internal Revenue Service scour your financial background with a fine tooth comb,” according to Chad Brooks of BussinessNewsDaily.

On the other hand, even what might seem like the biggest stretch could turn out to be 100 percent legal (okay, so our rule isn’t perfect). But make sure you know which deductions are legitimate before you try to claim them.

“Do not try these stunts on your own tax return,” writes Jay MacDonald of bankrate.com, “The Internal Revenue Service, while generally jovial sorts, won’t let laughter stop them from tossing your return into the red flag file reserved for the scofflaws, pranksters and disoriented filers among us.”

Were From the IRS & Wed Like to Ask you Some Questions: Weird Tax Deductions You Should Avoid Claiming“Ha! Ha! This guy’s totally going to prison!”

And in case you are wondering which weird tax deductions we’re talking about, bankrate.com has compiled a list of the strangest – and sometimes illegal – deductions claimed in 2012.

Here’s a list of the best (worst?) of 2012 [as compiled and written by Jay MacDonald]:

Hair transplant: Most accountants are quick to notice when a client tries to shave a little off his or her tax bill. But Laura Cullen, a CPA in Fresno, Calif., admits even she did a double take when a new client tried to pull the hair over her eyes.

“We had a client that had been transferred to the U.S. from another country. He was an educated, likable, sharp guy,” she recalls. “The first year I did his personal tax return, being aware that you could itemize your medical expenses, he asked me to expense his hair transplant. I had a heck of a time explaining why I couldn’t.”

Live-in boyfriend: The changes to the traditional American household, played for laughs on the hit TV comedy “Modern Family,” also make for some jaw-dropping — and allowable — tax deductions, according to Los Angeles forensic accountant Susan Carlisle.

“As I do most of my work in divorce, I was surprised to find that a husband, who had left the family home to live with his gay partner, (listed) both his wife and the partner, along with his children, as dependents on his tax returns in the same year prior to being officially divorced,” she recalls. “In all likelihood, each one — wife, live-in boyfriend and kids — met the definition of dependents.”

The wife and kids, sure. But the partner? It turned out the husband could claim the live-in boyfriend as a “qualified relative” since he: shared the same residence, was a member of the husband’s household, earned less than the exemption amount ($3,700 for 2011), and derived more than half of his total support from his new partner, Carlisle says.

Modern families, modern tax laws — hey, it’s complicated.

Swimming pool: Clients have long tried to talk Los Angeles CPA Rob Seltzer into allowing them to deduct their new swimming pools, but the strangest argument of all actually won over the IRS.

“My client was a very active individual and then incurred a severe back (and) neck injury,” Seltzer recalls.

“After he had surgery, his doctor determined that swimming was the only form of exercise that he could do without risking further damage. In addition, if someone inadvertently collided with him while he was swimming laps, he could face reinjuring himself. So the only option that could give my client a safe form of exercise and rehabilitation was in his own lap pool. My client built the pool, a deck and a Jacuzzi, and we deducted the portion of the total cost that was attributable to the lap pool.”

That would explain the absence of a passing lane.

Spatulas: Uncle Sam allows us to deduct the money we spend on the tools of our trade, within reason. For instance, if you have a home office, you’ll likely be able to claim expenses for things such as a computer, a printer, copy paper, furnishings and a helipad. Well OK, maybe not the helipad.

But Gail Rosen, a CPA in Martinsville, N.J., was blindsided by one eye-popping expense on a client’s return.

“My client is a painter, and he gave us his airfare to Brazil as a deduction,” she recalls. “When I questioned the airfare, he said he went to Brazil to get spatulas.”

Prayer room: Tax season may cause some of us to pray for deliverance, but one taxpayer took it one step too far with this now-former CPA, who requested anonymity.

“This client was in the fitness business. As we were going through his return, he says, ‘Oh, and I built a prayer room that I’d like to take as a charitable deduction.’ At first I thought he was joking, like OK, we’ll take the bedroom and the swing set outside, too. But he was dead serious.”

“I said, ‘Well, it’s in your house, right? And you’re not a minister. So unless your religion is kind of unique to you and it’s a recognized charity or church, those payments come out of your own pocket.‘ He got quite angry when I said there’s just no way, dude.”

“It’s pretty straightforward: Just because people take their shoes off when they enter doesn’t make your house a temple.”

See the rest of the list here.

(H/T: Business Insider)

Comments (44)

  • Diego Roswell
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:24am

    The American tax payer is the most powerful individual in the world, when organized. Should the American taxpayer decide to not pay their taxes and simultaneously remove their cash from numbered accounts (rendering their wealth unaccessible to the IRS) this country would see immediate action. Sooner or later, after the inner cities burn, file for bankruptcy and are bailed out with American taxpayer dollars, perhaps enough patriots will join together to boycott the registering, filing and paying of taxes to the federal government (the source of demonic debt).

    Report Post » Diego Roswell  
  • shadowrider
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 10:10am

    Their questions should be immediately responded to with this question …..

    How Fast Can You Run ? …….. LOL

    Report Post » shadowrider  
  • ASimpleGenius
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 8:30am

    Wait… why does Dick Tracy represent the bad guys??

    Report Post »  
    • black9897
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 9:01am

      IRS = Criminals. Group of men and women with guns claiming we owe them money. based on nothing more than their opinions.

      Report Post » black9897  
    • cessna152
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 9:27am

      I don’t like the IRS either. However, if people are legitimately CHEATING on their taxes then you and I pay for it. First off, a flat tax would solve that problem. Second, no more exempt groups, no more favorites…flat tax for everyone!! No write offs, no nothing. Sounds too simple because it makes sense and is simple.

      Report Post » cessna152  
    • cessna152
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 9:29am

      Oh, I forgot to add…it ain’t a taxing problem it is a spending problem. If anything there is too much money and even more spending.

      Report Post » cessna152  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 4:43pm

      “Beebeedeedeet! Beebeedeedeet!”

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • black9897
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:57pm

      Um. I would say that NO income tax would be best. Flat tax, high tax, low tax, all the same. All are stealing money that you worked for.

      Report Post » black9897  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 5:06am

    If you pay the Government you can call yourself a sheeple. And if you dont post on this thread it shows how much you live in fear of the IRS. P@ssies! I have no fear of them. the only taxes the Government ever gets from me is when i buy things or go fill up my tank. They do not get my income any more.

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:51am

      All I can say is, “BEEBEEDEEDEET! BEEBEEDEEDEET! BEEBEEDEEDEET!”

      The pic if from Dick Tracy. If you don’t get the joke, watch the movie.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
  • wntsmallgov
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:00am

    I have always used a tax accountant and always will. Anybody who is against obama may want to consider using accountants. The obama group is going to make them a target of the IRS

    Report Post » wntsmallgov  
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:34am

    …
    Maybe Barack Hussein Obama can deduct his Prayer Room and Prayer Mats off his taxes.

    Report Post »  
    • Sandy
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:58am

      No need for him to deduct, we the tax payers paid for it already.

      Report Post » Sandy  
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on March 1, 2012 at 1:28am

    …
    I once had a neighbor who got a practically free inground swimming pool off we taxpayers.
    His doctor wrote him a prescription for a pool to be installed, because of his severe arthritis.
    The man admitted that he didn’t even want a pool, but he said it was practically free, so why not get it.
    He never used it. Only his relatives and friends used it.

    Report Post »  
    • US-First
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:22am

      It is a little disingenuous to say someone claiming a deduction on their pool got it from us tax payers. Deductions cannot cause someone to get back more than they paid in taxes.

      On the other hand a tax credit is the beast that does rob us tax payers blind because it does give back more to some folks than they paid in taxes.

      Tax credits should be abolished and tax rates lowered at the same time. Automatically that would stop wasting tax dollars (reducing future debt) and concomitantly reduce the tax burden on citizens.

      Report Post »  
    • loriann12
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:54am

      And what would you call it? If I paid $1,000 in taxes, and my “adjustments” cause me to get a refund of $1,000 it means I paid NO taxes. Who pays the $1,000 that I should have? The others who pay taxes because my $1,000 didn’t go where it was supposed to go. It’s called having skin in the game. And if you think people don’t get back more than they put in, you’re living in Fantasy Land. There’s Earned Income Tax Credits, child care tax credits, etc. You could theoretically pay $1,000 in taxes and get back $5,000. Just where do you think THAT money comes from? And for the record, I did pay taxes, even with our pitance of a wage. I did, however, get back half what I put in.

      Report Post »  
  • ProbIemSoIver
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:58pm

    Here is what I claim.

    I Claim that you, the foreign-owned private corporation, seduced me by freudulent methods and schemes, into a unconscionable contract.

    I claim that my ‘Constitution for (not ‘of’) the United States of America’ protected my freedoms and liberties and my right to pursue happiness, and therefore I could NOT be pledged to a PRIVATE BANK as collateral for a DEBT in which I did not incur.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlCs7u1ihws

    By acquiring a Social Security Card you volunteered to be an Agent of the Corporate fiction (your strawman) established by the Corporation (They call themselves a Government) from the information on your Birth certificate.

    They trademarked your name and created a company with it and handed it to the IMF as Collateral on the debt of 1933.

    They promised the PRIVATE BANK that you would pay a percentage of your life’s earnings to them.
    Your Social Security is a Security bond for the creditors to hold or trade.

    Did they ever get your permission to create a Company with your name and info? NO

    Were most people that entered into a contract with the local, state or federal corporations of lawful majority age ? NO

    I was about 12 when I unknowingly volunteered to be an Agent for the Company that the Corporation created.

    I know the 16th amendment was never ratified.

    I know you are a de facto government established in 1871, when congress declared an emergency and “sine die”.

    Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:19pm

      The most important NEWS of the day is the H.R. 347 bill that passed on the house floor 388 – 3

      This bill makes it a federal crime to protest in the presence of any official that receives secret service protection.

      Thinking about protesting outside of the next political event?
      Think again.

      NDAA goes into effect in 1 hour. March 1st, 2012.

      First, hear Allen West admit our government is a corporation:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN0PlOXCJLc 1:02

      Here is proof:
      Executive Office Of The President in Washington, DC is a private company categorized under Executive Offices. Our records show it was established in 1939 and incorporated in District of Columbia
      http://www.manta.com/c/mm768fr/executive-office-of-the-president

      This woman knows:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOixE2ZFYtE

      Here is some literature on this. 75% of politicians are ex-lawyers.
      http://www.teamlaw.net/history.htm

      It is time to “Throw off such a government”

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • Razorhunters
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:22pm

      lay out the knowledge…put some learnin’ on these people.

      Report Post » Razorhunters  
    • Papadoc
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:24pm

      You missed the morning meds… am I right?

      Report Post »  
    • dnewton
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:27pm

      Westley? Are using the wardens computer?

      Report Post »  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:30pm

      @Razorhunters

      My Pleasure. I see you have been laying out some knowledge also. Keep up the great work,
      my fellow American Patriot and Infowarrior. :)

      iii

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:34pm

      Here comes the corporation’s disinfo shills, right on time.

      Just like clockwork. lol.

      Yeah Mofos, I am Breaking the contract. come get me. lol.

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • Razorhunters
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:54pm

      thank you,
      do what i can…

      peace and long life m’friend…
      time to unlock the minds.

      Report Post » Razorhunters  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 12:17am

      @Razorhunters

      It occured to me when I read your post, that I said fellow American Patriot, when I should have said
      fellow Patriot, because I want to help all of the victims of the Global Bankster’s Fractional reserve criminal syndicate.

      So whether you are from Australia, the UK, Africa, Canada, India, Asia, South America or anywhere the IMF is in control of your financial systems, I want to help all of mankind from enslavement.

      Peace.

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • Augydoggy
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 9:05am

      Problemsilver. You are 100% correct. Just as SSI is a ponze skeem. There was a time that you had to APPLY for a SS card. Now when your born your number is assigned to you.. Funny how Obummer can’t gets his right.

      Report Post »  
  • smokey888x2
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:50pm

    comdoms …. especially if you spell it as “comdums”

    Report Post » smokey888x2  
  • ULYSSESG
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:35pm

    If the 50% of us whom actually pay into the system via a PAYROLL TAX, we then go to a 1099, I would say to you all, your NOW IN POSTION TO FIGHT. By that I mean turn in your 1099, less the monies. They can not build enough jails, nor support the case volumes to prosecute all.
    STOP PAYING TAX AND THE IRS AND DC WILL GO AWAY. AMERICA GET SOME BALLS AND STAND FOR SOMETHING.

    Report Post » ULYSSESG  
  • seeker9
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:30pm

    I still can’t find the one that says that if you are rich, you get off scot free. Has to be there cause the msnbc hacks say that it’s true.

    Report Post » seeker9  
    • Papadoc
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 11:28pm

      Probably isn’t there, but it doesn‘t matter anyway since Obama is God’s tax collector. You heard that Obama said Jesus would like his tax plan, right?

      Report Post »  
  • christos
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:27pm

    Flat tax of 9% for everyone,every time they buy something,paying Caesar more than what +JESUS+GOD+ said to pay Caesar shows you have no problem bowing to Caesar,,,what are you going to say to +JESUS+GOD+ about this,,,the tax fraud/stealing $ from tax payers,should have been thrown in a burn pile 80 years ago,Tax Reparations,Demand your tax $$ back.

    Report Post » christos  
    • christos
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:31pm

      …….+JESUS+GOD+ called the “TAX Collectors” SINNERS,,,and they are Proud of that—FILTH.

      Report Post » christos  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:23pm

    Can I deduct all the Tums and Tylenol I have had to start taking in the last 3 years?

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
  • Razorhunters
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:20pm

    sorry for double post.

    Report Post » Razorhunters  
  • reconmarine
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:17pm

    None of this applies to most liberals however since they pay no taxes.

    Report Post »  
  • Razorhunters
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:12pm

    No Law Requires You to Pay Income Tax, Period.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7lefFz81BCo

    D – FEDERAL Income TAX IN US IS ILLEGAL – Ex IRS Agent INFORMS US ALL – PART 1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8NeVEJganDU

    E – FEDERAL Income TAX IN US IS ILLEGAL – Ex IRS Agent INFORMS US ALL – PART 2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CUoXoQsREfA

    Report Post » Razorhunters  
  • OlefromMN
    Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:11pm

    The ability to pay federal income taxes in the first place makes you suspect. They know you are employed, most likely conservative, and most likely can be bled for some more. They know where the honey pots are. The IRS is like a morbid Winnie-the-Pooh.

    Report Post » OlefromMN  
    • 00gabooga
      Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:17pm

      Amen. They’re really not worried with how much you pay, they’re more concerned with how much you have left afterwards. The less you have, the more you’ll be dependent on the gummint.

      Report Post » 00gabooga  
    • circleDwagons
      Posted on March 1, 2012 at 8:10am

      Agreed. it’s a game, the FED keeps printing money so we have paper to “pay” our taxes

      Report Post » circleDwagons  

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