IRS rules state that medical expenses incurred for unnecessary cosmetic surgery are not deductible. Generally, only expenses related to goods and services used for work can be deducted. Charitable deductions are tax-deductible, but the cost of caring for your pet or your son's clarinet lessons may be allowed in select cases. The IRS has allowed taxpayers to deduct unconventional expenses on their tax returns if they are a qualified medical expense or an ordinary and necessary business expense of an entrepreneur.
In the case of Cynthia S. Hess, a freelance exotic dancer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Tax Court allowed an exception and granted her a depreciation tax exemption on implants, declaring them a deductible business expense. The Tax Court also ruled in favor of John and Joana French who tried to cancel their 1984 taxes on a private plane they used to check in their rental condominium. The IRS has a nine-part test to help you make the determination if you have a service animal or guide dog, and you can deduct the cost of buying, training and maintaining it.
If your pet becomes an Internet sensation, you may be able to deduct related costs such as business expenses. In 1962, the IRS added a provision allowing a tax deduction for clarinet classes based on an orthodontist's recommendation that the woodwind instrument could help correct a child's overbite. Claiming the cost of cosmetic surgery as a tax deduction is almost always impossible, but it has been done under extremely specific circumstances. To be deductible, an expense must be considered ordinary within the industry or profession and must be medically necessary. If it is ordinary and necessary for the actor and paid for by the actor, the actor would get the deduction.
Fortunately, today's decisions regarding improving your physical appearance through plastic surgery have become less complicated due to advances in technique, accessibility, and safety of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. If you list your deductions for a taxable year in Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions, you may be able to deduct the expenses you paid that year for medical and dental care for you, your spouse, and your dependents. According to IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, it generally cannot include medical expenses for cosmetic plastic surgery procedures such as facelifts, hair transplants, hair removal (electrolysis), and liposuction. Most patients who choose to undergo cosmetic surgery do so to feel safer and more comfortable day by day in any work, social or other environment. With a Bench subscription, your accounting team imports all transactions from your bank, credit card and merchant processors accurately classifying each and reviewing hidden tax deductions. However, if you choose to send children to day camp during the hours you work or look for work, that expense could qualify for the child care and dependant credit.
