Wackiest Tax Write-Offs

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  Tales of Creative Filers

  
  Some tax deductions are questionable. Others are illegal. And then there are those that are just plain weird.
  
  Every year, Bankrate catalogues the 10 craziest new write-off tales CPA's have heard. Past years have featured everything from sperm donations to tricked-out Amish buggies
  
  See the creative and sometimes audacious ways your fellow taxpayers have tried to save on their returns.
  
  First: Up in Smoke

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Marijuana

  Up In Smoke

  
  Business deductions are always tricky, but what if you're running an illegal business? One marijuana dealer tried to deduct his crop as an expense, only to find that for criminal enterprises, the tax laws get very simple. No deductions. Period.
  
  
  Next: A Family Affair

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Family Loans

  A Family Affair

  Parents have asked one accountant more than once if they can claim a bad-debt loss from loans made to their children that were never repaid (quite possibly the majority of such loans!)
  
  Without documenation verifying the loan exists, and records that you have taken legal action attempting to collect, such a deduction if invalid. The moral? Loan out of love, not for the tax benefits.
  
  Next: Inflating Your Assets

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Noisy Neighbor

  Silence Is Golden

  But is it deductible? For one man that bought his chronically noisy neighbor's home and moved the house away to donate it to a local woman's shelter, the answer is 'yes.'
  
  While such deductions are limited to a percentage of one's income, the IRS doesn't care why you donated to charity, only that the donation was made and recorded properly.
  
  Next: Big Apple, Big Deduction?

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Manhattan

  Big Apple, Big Deduction?

  
  By this point, it may come as no surprise that computers make mistakes, too. In once instance, tax software mistook a filer's return address of 'New York, NY' for the name of a dependent and claimed it as such.
  
  Apparently, the IRS' computers weren't terribly swift, either, as the fact that one person appeared to be taking a major metropolitan area as a deduction went unnoticed until much, much later.
  
  Next: Risky Business

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Call Girl

  Risky Business

  
  When does a business expense exceed IRS criteria? One man attempted to convince his CPA that a call girl hired to entertain some clients qualified. When the CPA said the businessman would need to present this 'independent contractor' with a Form 1099, he thought better of it and dropped the whole idea.
  
  Next: The 'Zoolander' Deduction

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Clothes Deductions

  The 'Zoolander' Deduction

  What if your body is your business? Models can deduct a lot of their makeup and some clothing, but it has to fit the rules.
  
  CPAs have seen the beautiful people come up with some twisted logic to attempt to justify manicures, pedicures and back waxing. Some parents even tried to deduct money given to infants for 'modeling' for their parents. No joke.
  
  Next: On the Road ... Again

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• 300 Miles a Day

  On the Road ... Again?

  Even some long-haul truckers may have raised eyebrows when one salesman attempted to tell his accountant he drove 60,000 miles in one year, all of it for business. The accountant had to ask if he had any time for sleep (let alone business meetings), as it would have meant that the man was spending most of every business day just driving from place to place.
  
  Next: It's a Business Meeting ... Not

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Wedding

  It's a Business Meeting ... Not

  When a man with $300,000 of gross income lists $50,000 dollars for 'business entertainment expenses' on his return, you can bet there's a story behind it.
  
  A little digging by his accountant discovered that the man was attempting to deduct his daughter's wedding. He justified the deduction by inviting his clients to attend.
  
  Next: Pennies From Heaven

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Church Money

  Pennies From Heaven

  If you attend church, you may feel inclined to donate a few dollars into the collection plate 'as the spirit moves you.' But as one accountant advised his client, if you intend to try to deduct these contributions, make sure the spirit moves you to bring your checkbook so you have the cancelled check as a record. That way both the spirit and the IRS will be satisfied.
  
  Next: Silence Is Golden

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• Exotic Dancer

  Inflating Your Assets

  An almost-mythic deduction told in CPA classes turns out to be absolutely true.
  
  Apparently, a topless dancer got breast implants, treated them as 'capital assets' and deducted them and an ordinary business expense.
  
  The surprise ending? When the IRS took her to tax court, she won.
  
  Next: More From AOL

  More Taxes:

  Inside the Wacky Write-Offs

  IRS Still Have Your Refund?

  5 Terrible Tax Surprises

• 

   

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