I’m not sure I can post tax questions here, but Mods feel free to close it up if it violates policy.
It’s that time of year. My wife and I finally received all the tax documents we need and I can finally file.
How ever I have one lagging question.
I have neck tattoos. I switched jobs in May. They offered me a promotion. Only stipulation, the neck tattoos gotta go. They won’t send me to assessment at corporate HQ until they are gone, because the VP will “EAT ME ALIVE” regarding the tattoos. I started laser removal treatment in May. I had 6 treatments at 150$ a treatment in the year of 2011 and I am still getting treatments into 2012.
I know I can not write the treatments off as medical because its cosmetic.
The question is because it is required by my superiors to receive a promotion, Can I write off my tattoo removal costs (total 900$ for 2011) as an unreimbursed business expense?
Analogue Skywalker. (yes they are my totally awesome Alliance to restore the old republic symbol and the Imperial badge, but bitchin starwars neck tattoos are less important to me than a 10,000$ a year promotion and my own store)
This is the kind of question I would normally try to answer by searching through Tax Court rulings. If you can find a similar case involving tattoo removal or other “cosmetic” procedures then you may be able to follow that ruling.
I can think of one case off the top of my head where a stripper was permitted to deduct breast implants as a business expense. However, part of the court’s reasoning was that it made her breasts of such ridiculous size that her only possible motivation would have been to benefit her stage show.
That line of reasoning would probably throw tattoo removal out as a deduction - we tend to think of “normal” as a person without any tattoos.
Just so you know, one advantage of having a tax pro do your taxes is that if the IRS were to audit you and deny the deduction, you could claim a waiver of penalties based on relying on the professional’s opinion. (Of course, you’d still pay the tax and the interest, but blaming the accountant is a tried and true method of abating penalties.)
I agree on getting an accountant but I don’t think that last part means this. It means that if he makes $45,000 or more, he can deduct exactly 0% of it. Otherwise, it is reduced by 2%. So, a person making $30,000 could deduct $300 (30k * 0.02 = 600; 900 - 300 = 600). Note that you could combine this with other work expenses, AND you would need to itemize to get it, so if you don’t have a mortgage, etc. you might not have enough expenses.