Can you take cosmetic surgery as a tax deduction?

As we've come up on tax season, I thought I'd try to tie this in somehow. I've found some tax experts who maintain that in sometimes, there may be circumstances where some one's cosmetic surgery is actually eligible to be taken as a tax deduction. If you're to do this, be ready for extra scrutiny by the IRS.



If Michael Jackson's for example underwent yet another rhinoplasty (nose job) procedure, it might be considered a professional tax deduction if the singer claimed he needed the surgery to reach a certain musical pitch.

A more interesting and pragmatic case involved exotic dancer, Cynthia Hess — better known as "Chesty Love" — made tax law history in 1994 when she successfully sued the IRS to take a $2,088 deduction on a boob job that left her with a size-56FF chest.




From ABC News

U.S. Tax Court Judge Joan Seitz Pate noted that Hess increased her income as a result of the surgery and that her cumbersome breasts, weighing 10 pounds each, were so large that she could not derive personal benefit from them. Hess had undergone the surgery "all for the purpose of making money" at an Indiana strip club, and the tax court allowed her to deduct the expense as a "stage prop."

For the record, a surgeon who puts implants in that size for breast augmentation is a disgrace - Rob

Check out the "Top Ten Strangest Tax Write-Offs" from legalzoom.com