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IRS: Okay, Fine, Breast Pumps Are Medical Expenses

Apparently Doug Shulman & Co. have backed off the idea that a mother’s milk simply promotes a baby’s nutrition (which is a necessity not a medical condition) akin to orange juice preventing scurvy.

Breast pumps and other lactation supplies are now tax deductible as medical expenses, the Internal Revenue Service said on Thursday, February 10, reversing a long-held position. The new ruling means that families can use pre-tax funds from their flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts for these supplies. Breast pumps typically cost more than $200 and, along with supplies, can run as high as $1,000 in the first year of a baby’s life.

Breast-feeding supplies deductible, IRS rules [Reuters]

Earlier:
What Does the IRS Have Against Boobs?

Cardinals’ Rolle Billed by IRS for $2.2 Million

rolle.jpgFootball is a tough sport. Not the physical demands mind you, it appears to be more of a challenge to stay out of trouble.

Today’s ne’er-do-well is Antrel Rolle of the Arizona Cardinals. The IRS is claiming that the all-pro safety understated his taxable income by 50% in 2005 and 2006 and they sent him a bill for $2.2 million in order to get him back in the Service’s good graces.
Rolle, who does not dispute the claims, does complain that the Service, “violated the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, denied him due process and failed to treat him in a ‘fair, professional and courteous manner.'” Perhaps he was unaware that the IRS is not really known for its good etiquette.


Congeniality aside, it’d be one thing if Rolle had made some mistakes using TurboTax or something (you don’t have to tell Doug Shulman that this shit is complicated) but he seems to have been just ramming onto his Schedule C without prejudice.
Forbes:

Drawing particular IRS attention was Rolle’s report of a Schedule C “sole proprietorship” involving “management and consulting” that he said he operated both years. Over that period he listed $557,000 in revenue and $1.9 million in expenses. The IRS disallowed all but $71,000 of the expenses, which included $254,000 for “advertising” and $372,000 classified as “rent or lease–vehicles.” Rolle said his business was located at an address in Chandler, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb. But “correspondence mailed to that address was returned indicating ‘no such number,’ and electronic research turned up the same result,” the IRS agent wrote.

So you claim over $1 mil in expenses, the IRS takes a look and says that only $71k is actually legit? Hopefully he fired his CPA.
IRS Hits Cardinals’ Antrel Rolle With $2.2 Million Bill [Forbes via TaxProf]