Taking i-Lounge Classes To Write-Off the Trip

[Gloria Mundi]

I once worked with a man whose wife was a nurse. His in-laws were paying their way (the man I worked with and his wife the nurse) on a cruise so the in-laws could write their trip (all four of them) off on their taxes. Their reasoning (the in-laws) was that the in-law husband needed the trip for his health and also needed nursing care and his daughter the nurse was going to provide it while he was on the ship! <snip>

I still wonder if the IRS ever said anything about that trip!

 

They sure would have if he'd been audited. Odds are they were never caught.

 

I can't think of any legitimate medical reason that a doctor could "prescribe" a cruise and have the IRS accept it. Whatever benefits you could get from a cruise (stress relief, milder climate, etc.) could be gotten through simpler and cheaper means. Including a relative who just happens to be a nurse, plus 2 others, just adds to the BS.

[Capt_BJ]

bottom line is understanding HOW IRS pulls names for audits

 

you can get away with a lot of BS for a very long time if you fly under the radar ... because your $ is in the noise level for the radar .... aka not significant

 

for income X you need to claim deductions Y before a flag is raised . . . for a large portion of tax payers, assembling enuf deductions to itemize is a problem . . . well, legal deductions anyway

 

income x and charitable donations Y .... FLAG

 

claiming (low) income x while living in a zip code with (high) average income Y and (high) property tax Z can raise a flag . . .

 

and like I said ... if you DO get flagged ... they are not limited to looking at the current year . . .

 

SO

 

DEDUCT IT ALL

 

assuming you do your own taxes because a licensed preparer (different than an 'enrolled agent' or the guy/gal next door) is probably gonna laugh at the suggestion . . . .

Edited July 18, 2014 by Capt_BJ