10 Crazy Tax Deductions

Here are some more unusual deductions taxpayers have successfully and unsuccessfully used to lower their tax bill. Remember, consult

with a licensed tax professional before you make any unusual tax moves.

Via CNN Money

Hermit Crab Food

An entrepreneurial teenager started making food for her pet hermit crab by crunching up cereal and other ingredients. The crab loved it, so she started selling it to a local pet store where customers started buying it. Because she made a profit, the teenager was able to deduct all the costs of making the hermit crab food as business expenses.

Extra Big Suit

Typically, the cost of work clothes is not an eligible business expense. However, a concert organist in New York was able to write off the cost of his suits because they were not suitable for everyday wear. To add the flexibility he needed to reach different keys and pedals, the organist had his suits specially tailored: both sleeves and pant legs were about 6 inches longer.

Scuba Trips

A firefighter, whose job duties included searching for dead bodies in Lake Michigan, opted to do scuba diving training during his trips to warmer places like Florida. He was able write off the costs as business expenses since the training enabled him to keep up the scuba diving certification required by his job.

Deceased Parents

A 85-year-old woman from Massachusetts surprised her tax preparer by trying to claim her parents as dependents on her tax return, even though they were long deceased. Her reasoning: her late parents passed the dependent tests: they had no income, were related to her, did not file a tax return…

Her tax preparer advised against it.

World Travels

One taxpayer was able to write off a $50,000 multi-year globetrotting extravaganza, which included trips to Italy, France and Greece. He wrote a book about his adventures which was published by a low-budget publisher. Because the book actually made a small profit, his travel costs counted as business expenses.

"Snitch fees"

You could say that catching criminals is the “business” of the police. One police officer was able to write of the cost of wining, dining, even paying informants for information. Since these expenses are not reimbursable by the police department and were essential to his job performance, they are deductible as business expenses.

An 80th Birthday Party

One woman tried to pass her grandmother’s 80th birthday party as a business meeting and write off the cost of the $2,500 party as a business expense. Her reasoning: she handed out samples from her coffee company to party-goers.

Her tax preparer wisely nixed the idea.

Wedding

When the owners of two competing businesses got married, they decided it was also a perfect time to merge their two businesses. So, along with the expense involved with the merger, they tried to deduct the entire cost of their wedding as a business expense. Tax preparer didn't let this through, however. He said that while the wedding did in fact prompt the merger, it occurred before the businesses merged and was therefore not part of the actual process.

An iPhoneAfter a car accident left her with major brain injuries, one woman became so dependent on her iPhone and Siri, her doctor said she could not function without it. Without Siri reminding her of appointments and answering her questions, the woman would have needed a personal assistant.

Her tax preparer included cost of her iPhone with her medical expense. So far, the IRS hasn't contested the deduction.

Airfare ... For a Pet

One dog-lover who hated to leave her dog at home when she went on business trips attempted to write off the cost of the extra airfare for her dog as a business expense. She also tried to deduct the cost of a pet sitter for when she couldn't take her dog with her.

To the woman's dismay, her tax preparer disallowed all of the deductions before they could get to the IRS.

To Learn More

Visit

www.taxassistancegroup.org

Or Call

(855) 549-7829

Works Cited: Ellis, Blake. “13 Crazy Tax Deductions.” CNN Money. Cable News Network, 17 March 2014. Web. 17 July 2015.

<http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/taxes/2014/03/26/tax-deductions/>