Tax Court Rules Prostitutes Aren't Deductible

Oh-oh! Tax Court Rules Prostitutes Aren't Deductible

The bad news: "The U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday that Brooklyn, N.Y. tax lawyer William G. Halby, 78, had no legal basis to deduct prostitutes and pornography as medical expenses on his federal tax returns. Judge Joseph Robert Goeke upheld the Internal Revenue Service's determination that Halby owed $21,000 in back taxes plus $4,000 in accuracy-related penalties for his disallowed write-off of $120,000 of what the court delicately (and in quotations) called 'service providers' as well as pornographic materials."

The good news: Obama has hired this lawyer to draft the new medical care bill.