Get started on preparing your taxes. Don’t wait until the last moment! Yes, tax prep can be worrisome, bothersome, complex and not one’s best idea of a fun time. With that in mind, here is a list of very weird, unusual, bizarre, strange tax deductions. Perhaps you can use some of these ideas?
In general, tax deductions are ways to reduce your taxable income, usually due to expenses one has incurred. Tax deductions are not the same as exemptions (but both reduce your total taxable income) nor are they the same as tax credits, which actually reduce your tax.
The website of the Internal Revenue Service, at www.irs.gov, provides a great deal of information on tax deductions, exemptions and credits. Don’t hesitate to read there, and use search engines to find other sources of deductions and such. You will probably save some or even a lot of money. There are individual credits and business credits.
Typical deductions include donations of money and goods to charities, certain educational and career-building expenses, and some money you spent for your job. But here are some atypical deductions: maybe you can use them! If not, get a chuckle or two from this list.
1. If you are a resident of Hawaii and have an “exceptional tree” on your property, a Norfolk Pine, you can deduct for it.
2. South Carolina residents can deduct deer meat. Donate butchered deer meat to charity, you get a small deduction.
3. Ostrich depreciation. If your ostrich is used for breeding, you are eligible.
4. Carrier pigeons. If this is your only means of business communication, you can deduct their price, food, care and housing.
5. A home swimming pool, if it is used specifically as a valid medical expense. Swim therapy!
6. Getting your house burnt to a crisp. If you donate your house and the land to your local fire department so that they can practice putting out fires, the IRS lets you deduct these.
7. Clarinet lessons, if they are for therapeutic reasons. If they are meant to cure an overbite, you can deduct.
8. The so-called “starving artist” deduction. A bit complicated, but if you are a performing artist with at least two employers, and meet other qualifications, then you can deduct expenses for guitar picks, clarinet reeds (see #7), pointe shoes or Irish step shoes, and lots more.
9. Special oils that professional body builders use for competitions.
10. Breast enlargement, if it is a business expense. If you are in the adult entertainment industry, this is a possibility.
There are others that are far from typical, and certainly head scratchers. If you have further questions about possible deductions, especially those that are peculiar, consult the IRS website or a professional preparer. Good luck!
