Posted by: cfiddle ®
07/22/2003, 09:50:44
Author Profile Mail author
|
I'd like to share some information which might be useful to other musicians on this board. After I developed dystonia, (not having any health insurance at the time) and pursued various treatments for possibly correcting or alleviating it, I discovered that I could deduct all of the associated medical costs as a "business expense" because I met certain conditions: The dystonia symptoms solely affected my music making abilities; I was a full time professional musician; making music was my primary source of income; the dystonia was preventing me from "working." It was a bit like instrument repair. As a sole proprietor, making music for a living, I can presently deduct the costs of repairing my violin (itemised deduction), so similarly, I can deduct the costs of "repairing" a damaged body part essential for music making but not essential for other daily activities. There is a bit of a gray area in the interpretation and the burden of proof is on the musician. The dystonia must be directly connected to the professional money making activity, and not merely be an inconvenience to other daily activities. Other wise it will be rightfully lumped by the IRS into the category of non business related medical conditions such as spraining your ankle, or getting colds. After I finally determined that the best cure for my own condition was to switch to playing violin left handed, I no longer had a need for dystonia treatments, and so the deductions ceased. I want to clearly state that I'm not an accountant, or tax expert. I'm just sharing my experiences about how I handled my own situation, and that what worked for me, may not be appropriate for others. Ryan
Modified by Moderator-AB at Thu, Jul 24, 2003, 04:17:44
|
