Still Looking for Tax Deductions? Try One of These Weird Write-Offs
The tax deadline is Tuesday and if that’s news to you, you’re probably either frantically running around your apartment trying to find every loose receipt you can or are Mitt Romney.
Chances are you’re also diving through your year’s worth of finances to see if there is anything left on your credit card statements or checking accounts that you can write off as a deduction. Some get a little creative with their paperwork and despite the IRS’ best efforts to audit all of mankind, some of them have actually gotten through Uncle Sam’s moat of blinding paperwork.
Neatorama compiled some of the more interesting deductions that people have tried to write off on their tax return. For instance, TV’s Dinah Shore threw in the receipts for some very fancy and tight dresses on her tax returns. They were so tight that she couldn’t sit down in them without giving her audience more to see than the FCC would normally allow on the air. Since she couldn’t wear them anywhere but work, she included them on her return and the IRS let her write them off on her final bill. People have also been successful in writing off everything from breast implants to carrier pigeons.
The list also includes some deductions that didn’t make it through, the most jarring of which is “arson.” A failing furniture store owner claimed that hiring someone to set their business on fire so they could collect the insurance money was a legitimate business expense. Naturally, the IRS not only declined the deduction but also fined the guy $6,000 for wasting the IRS’ time. It’s too bad the IRS can’t administer spankings as a penalty because this guy deserved one.