Posted on 09/15/2009 8:40:24 PM PDT by Saije
The U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday that Brooklyn, N.Y. tax lawyer William G. Halby, 78, had no legal basis to deduct prostitutes and pornography as medical expenses on his federal tax returns. Judge Joseph Robert Goeke upheld the Internal Revenue Service's determination that Halby owed $21,000 in back taxes plus $4,000 in accuracy-related penalties for his disallowed write-off of $120,000 of what the court delicately (and in quotations) called "service providers" as well as pornographic materials.
According to the opinion, Halby did maintain careful records as is generally required for deductions. He "kept track of these visits in a journal," the court said, logging in dates, names and amounts, although there's no mention in the opinion that the prostitutes provided receipts. To his tax return's Schedule A, used to claim medical deductions, Halby added an attachment that provided "only vague descriptions of the types of costs" he was trying to deduct.
According to the Tax Court opinion, Halby, who represented himself, argued the costs should be allowed because of "the positive health effects of sex therapy." But the court said no doctor had prescribed this treatment for Halby, who also "did not discuss these visits with his doctors afterwards to determine their impact on his health."
Accordingly, the court ruled his "payments to various prostitutes were personal expenses not prescribed by a doctor and not intended to treat a medical condition." The court also noted: "Patronizing a prostitute is illegal in the state of New York."
In the two years at question in the case, 2004 and 2005, Halby spent $108,000 on prostitutes, $7,000 on materials and $5,000 in what the court called "bank and finance charges incurred in connection with loans used to pay for the claimed medical expenses."
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
or Elliot Spitzer.
ACORN may appeal this ruling /sarc
Clearly, he didn’t get help from ACORN, professionals on the subject.
Damned if ya do - Damned if ya don’t.
Just one more reason to abolish the IRS.
“$108,000 on prostitutes”
You could probably terraform a distant planet by atomizing him into the atmosphere.
Clearly, this was a case of "professional jealousy."
Everyone knows it's the IRS's job to screw the taxpayer.
Cheers!
Can’t he claim the trifecta? Invoke the Rangel Rule, ‘The Dog Ate My TurboTax’ Giethner Rule, and the new ACORN ‘Prostitutes as Dependents’ Rule.
$108,000 in two years is about $1040 (ironic) per week... almost $150 per day. If he was addicted to crack cocaine, he’d spend about the same amount, I’d venture to guess. Almost amazing for a 78 year old, actually. That little blue pill is pretty potent stuff, apparently.
If only he had gone to Obama’s friends at ACORN for tax advice. The would have told him, “You can’t SAY prostitution. Call the prostitutes consultants or marketeers or performance artists.”
LOL, I thought this was a satire on ACORN.
File under: What’s the matter with Brooklyn?
Oh, man. He's done right there. Only the government gets to do that sort of thing without a receipt.
Maybe he can get ACORN to help with his appeal.
Now that is thnking outside the box...
Damn !!!
There goes next year’s tax refund I wuz countin’ on ...
Tha's BS, it's a proven fact, guys will get b*ll cancer if they aren't relieved at least once in while. Poor old Mr. Halby.
They're just jealous because people enjoy it from prostitutes.
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