The issue before the tribunal, the judges wrote solemnly, was whether a taxpayer could claim a medical expense deduction “for amounts paid for erotic materials, sexually related publications, male enhancement pills, and miscellaneous services performed by prostitutes.”
The decision: Hell, no!
In a just-released 12-page opinion, New York State’s Tax Appeals Tribunal unanimously ruled that William G. Halby, a long-separated, 79-year-old retired tax lawyer from Brooklyn, could not deduct $296,495 from his state taxes for 2002, 2003 and 2004. The disallowed sum included $5,632 of bank and credit card charges.
