Outrageous Tax Deductions! - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

Tax day is little more than a month away. And right about now, many Americans are searching frantically for deductions. Some get more creative than others.  

Exotic dancer Chesty Love was on the Jerry Springer Show claiming her breast implants are deductible.  She fought the IRS and won.  The U.S. Tax Court ruled her breast implants were a stage prop that boosted her income, and therefore deductible as a business expense. "My breasts are very much a part of my job", says Love. "My salary as a dancer went up in direct proportion to the size of my chest."

No matter how offbeat the profession, the tax code encourages us to earn money so the IRS can collect more.   Business expenses can take many forms. There's the case of the junkyard that was infested with rats and snakes. The owner deducted the cost of cat food he put out each night to attract felines to take care of the pests.
     
Criminals are supposed to report their income from illegal activities. IRS publication 17 says it goes on form 1040, line 21. So, criminal enterprises are allowed to deduct the cost of business expenses--  like buying guns!

As accountant Evan Snapper puts it, "A drug dealer should, under the regulations, report the costs of his inventory -- the drugs that he is purchasing for resale, the cost of the guns to protect the inventory, the costs of the suitcases to carry it.  You would put all that on a tax return."  
 
After all, it's the law.

Click here for a list of tax deductions you shouldn't even think of claiming.

(Source: CNN)