15 Believe It or Not Tax Breaks

Your fellow taxpayers have successfully claimed write-offs for many things that most of us wouldn't even imagine.

two people with shocked looks on their faces
(Image credit: Getty Images)

As you struggle with your tax return, trying to come up with some extra deductions to pump up your refund or reduce what you owe, don't you sometimes think about taking a few flights of fancy? We've all done it, conjuring up in our heads miraculous tax write-offs until we're brought back to reality. "Can I claim a deduction for all those blood donations at the Red Cross?" Nope. "How about a charitable contribution for all the time I donate to the church?" No, again. "What about claiming a home office deduction for my home movie theater?" No way. "Can I claim my dog as a dependent?" (This was asked years ago by the author's mom.) Come on!

On the other hand, your fellow taxpayers have successfully claimed write-offs for many things that most of us wouldn't even imagine, such as cat food, the cost of installing a swimming pool, genetic testing kits, and body oil used by a professional bodybuilder.

Here are 15 of our favorites.

Joy Taylor
Editor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter

Joy is an experienced CPA and tax attorney with an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. After many years working for big law and accounting firms, Joy saw the light and now puts her education, legal experience and in-depth knowledge of federal tax law to use writing for Kiplinger. She writes and edits The Kiplinger Tax Letter and contributes federal tax and retirement stories to kiplinger.com and Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. Her articles have been picked up by the Washington Post and other media outlets. Joy has also appeared as a tax expert in newspapers, on television and on radio discussing federal tax developments.