As director of BC Basics, Ltd. in Akron/Canton, certified public accountant David R. Palumbo sees a lot of deductions that would raise the eyebrows of the Internal Revenue Service. But counseling … for a canine?
“A client wanted to use dog psychiatry sessions as a business deduction for their watch dog. The client’s reason? ‘A healthy barking watch dog will reduce or prevent theft.’ I recommended they have their returns done by Dr. Frazier Crane in Seattle,” Palumbo confides.
Ronald J. Manse, CPA, a partner at Bruner Cox, LLP in Akron/Canton, says a typical nightmare for accountants is when some clients come in at year-end with all their records stuffed haphazardly in a shoebox.
“I had a lady come to see me who’d just come back from a trip. Instead of a shoe box, she brought in a suitcase,” Manse recalls. “She opened up her suitcase and there, among all her dirty laundry and personal items, were indeed supporting documents for her taxes.”
Manse’s colleague, Liz Davis, CPA, has one that likely tops all. “I had a client that wanted to deduct his court-mandated stay in drug rehab as a medical expense.”