Status: Tax Scams
With April 15th fast approaching, taxpayers are once again scheming to dream up all kinds of deductions they can take. Bankrate.com has
a list of some unusual ones (Thanks to Kathy for the link), such as:
• The guy who claimed his dog as a dependent
• The man who tried to claim a sperm donation as a 'depletion allowance'
• The furniture-store owner who hired an arsonist to burn his business down so that he could claim the insurance, and then deducted the $10,000 he paid the arsonist as a consulting fee.
• And the guy who tried to deduct dog food as a security expense (since, as he argued, his dog guarded his house)
In
an article from last year, Buck Wolf of ABC News also listed some strange deductions such as body builders who can legally deduct baby oil, exotic dancers who can deduct the cost of their breast implants, and clarinet lessons which can be deducted as a health expense (if it helps you correct an overbite).
The strangest deduction I've ever claimed was for a stuffed jackalope. (Should I be admitting this where the IRS might read it?) My logic was that I was making money by researching hoaxes, so it was part of my research. Plus, I wanted the jackalope as a prop for when the
New York Times came out to photograph me.
Comments
I say you're good.
I cant have kids due to medical problems.. so he is my kid... I should be able to claim him... :(
Especially since I still have to pay taxes to local schools that I will never make use of.
The paperwork just gets more & more confusing.
No a pet is nothing like a child.
A pet can only ever consume resources; a child will one day be a productive member of society. Deductions aren't about costs; deductions related to dependent children are allowed in the hopes of helping the children become tax payers themselves.
However, I do agree its totally unfair for so many people to pay school tax when they dont use schools: single people, childless couples, parents who home school or send their kinds to private school, older couples, etc. I think those people should keep their school tax $. People who have their kids in other forms of school should have the $ for their own kids education, not somebody else's.
First of all, pets happen to do many things for people that many humans aren't willing to do and one of the greatest is showing unconditional love.
They are also used as service animals to help the disabled, many of YOUR human children refuse to do anything for others, therefore they should be looked upon as an equal, since there are just as many low life humans who suck dry the system and do nothing to help others.
Many service animals are also used to help mentally ill people and emotionally ill people cope with their diseases.
Animals are also used to help children and adults who are terminally ill inside the hospital, so next time any of you assume that animals aren't an equal life form I suggest you think again.
I have been taking care of him for the past 8 years, paying his health insurance premiums, auto insurance and rent.
My cousing receives about $1,300 a month from Social security and workman compensation.
Can I claim him as a dependent?
I'm claiming the home office deductions, so the dog(s) ARE protecting my business. (computers, supplies, inventory, etc.)
I'll need to run it by someone who is an "expert".
Is it a 100% business deduction, like a junkyard dog or an incidental home office expense like a whole house alarm system? Probably the latter since they protect the rest of the house too. That means I can deduct the same percentage of their expenses as my office is (approx 25%, small house).
"A pet can only ever consume resources; a child will one day be a productive member of society."
Criminals and their incarcerations deplete resources more than 100 times all the pets in the world.
"Pets are not children no matter how much you love them. Children are people; pets are not."
Pets remain dependent and therefore cannot repay us for their survival. They should unconditionally receive deductions for their care just as a child will never be able to repay for theirs, unless they are some liberal kid hollywood star.