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Medical expenses

06 August 2008
Issue: 4170 / Categories: Forum & Feedback
Are medical expenses an allowable deduction?

I have a client who is a professional pianist and musician and also a bit prone to exaggerating his medical ailments. Last year he paid for an operation on one of his fingers to repair damage to the tissue and put forward the case that this was a wholly business expense because without the operation he would not be able to play the piano in the future. He was adamant that if the operation had not been carried out it would have been the end of his professional playing career. He then paid for a specialist to give him special finger exercises to increase the strength in his fingers. Again he feels this expenditure is wholly for business purposes.

This year he encountered bad back problems and again justified chiropractor fees as a wholly business expense because of the importance of a correct posture...

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