No, honestly it is tax deductible as it’s purely for medical reasons…

The deadline for submitting income tax returns in the UK is in a couple of days on 31 January. According to the UK tax authorities there are still over 2 million returns that need to be submitted.

There are no doubt a lot of people hastily getting their figures together to meet the deadline.

Over in the US, one individual took a somewhat unusual approach to claiming deductions in his tax return.

Brooklyn Tax Lawyer, William G. Halby, kept records of his visits to, um how can I say this, but let’s just say certain ladies of the night that provide a certain adult service.

He subsequently claimed the expenses of these visits as tax deductible medical expenses on his tax return.

Mr Halby was quite open about claiming the expenses and as a Tax Lawyer he represented himself at the State of New York Tax Tribunal when the tax authorities argued the expenses were not tax deductible.

Now this wasn’t a small amount which he tried to put in as a tax deduction. Over a 4 year period he claimed expenses of $322,000 for what he felt were for medical purposes.

In one year alone he claimed “medical expenses” on his tax return which were itemised in detail and amounted to over $110,000.

Now this got the accountant in me thinking about these figures and after spending a brief couple of days reviewing some of the New York Agency websites where these ladies advertise their services, I’ve found that the average price for a “consultation” is in the region of $500.

This means that on average Mr Halby made 220 “medical visits” in one year alone.

Undertaking this number of visits and then claiming them on his tax return is arguably proof of both dedication to solving his medical problem as well as maintaining suitable and sufficient records for tax purposes.

All of his expenses were however rejected by the Tax Tribunal. The full text of the Tribunal’s decision can be found here.

Mr Halby is aged 78 and is currently single.