Just a had a quick question if outfits were tax deductible?![]()
Just a had a quick question if outfits were tax deductible?![]()
They should be since they are something that you bought specifically for work and that you need for work. Don't quote me on that though, i'm not a tax person! I'd call and ask H&R Block or something to make sure, but i'm pretty sure that it's a write off. Keep the reciepts!
"When life gets rough turn up the music and dance a little"
I Train Mixed Martial Arts!
outfits, makeup, tanning, nails, purses, any supplies that you bought and used specifically/ for your job. I deduct alot, because before i started dancing i got my hair done prof. like 2x per year, now more like 1 per month so i consider the difference.
Ask Mel, but I'm pretty sure anything that passes the "housewife" test is allowable.
Therefore most makeup isn't, but work thongs are. As long as they are costume thongs, and not from say Wally World.
But again, your best bet is to ask Mel, she's our resident brainiac on money matters, lol.





I'm no brainiac ... I've just had a lot more dealings with the IRS over the years than I ever wanted !
From an IRS standpoint, the deductibility of the things you mention fall under two different IRS rules which don't actually agree with each other. The first says that any expense which is 'ordinary and necessary' for your business pursuits is a legitimate business expense tax deduction. The second says that anything that a 'housewife' would spend money on, with absolutely no business purpose in mind, should not be allowed as a business expense tax deduction since it is for 'personal' benefit. My accountant advises that any costumes that could possibly be worn outside the club (i.e. bikinis, daisy dukes, boots) are fair game to be disallowed by the IRS, because 'housewives' also buy them. Same thing applies to dep't store make-up, tanning sessions, health club memberships etc. because 'housewives' also spend money on these.
Bottom line is that where the IRS is concerned ...
A. if you don't try to deduct something you'll never save any tax money,
B. if you're audited the worse that will probably happen is the attempted deduction will be disallowed
C. if you try to deduct too high a percentage of business expenses versus income, it greatly increases the probability of an IRS audit occurring
D. if you're audited under suspicion, worse things CAN happen (unless you can prove how much money you earned, and can prove you DIDN'T earn as much as the IRS estimates that you did)





I was always told that its deductable if you pay taxes on that job.
Number of times Rickrolled on stage: 6
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Marasmus says, "Oh no, that wasn't gas, it was merely a rectal chuckle."
Marek says, "A friend of mine got punched in the face by a dominatrix stripper about two weeks ago and I thought of you."
Well, hopefully Dan can answer some more questions.
I always went by the rule that if I didn't use the products in my daily housewife duties, then it would be deductible. I basically only deducted for gowns, thongs, make-up (I wore MAC at the club...and not at home), and shoes. Everything else, I just considered as a normal expense.
Hi,
The general principles for deductibility are "usual, reasonable, customary, and ordinary" - great descriptive words but not always clarifying. Some of the answer includes......"it depends".
It depends upon your tax agressive perspective. What I mean is some people simply elect to not deduct those items inorder to avoid future clarification - others deduct everything imaginable and are willing to pay the taxes later if audited (note - this isn't a suggestion of evaision of taxes by lieing).
So......the answer is items you purchase to use in your dancing, including your stage makeup, clothing, hair sparkles, enhanced nails, boas, dancer style outfits, training, education, coaching, etc. will/should be deductible. If will help of course, if you separate your personal life from your professional life. Example, although those 5 inch platform sparkling red-white-blue shoes look really great on you and on stage, I suspect they aren't what you wear in your non-work life - so...I would suggest that you deduct them. If, on the other hand you wear the same style or same stuff, then it would be very agressive to deduct them. Plus you will be replacing your wearables very frequently compared to your non-work items.
Use your judgement and common sense - don't try to over deduct, separate your business purchases by using a separate bank account, separate credit card, separate set of receipts/envelopes...Operate your business like a business and you'll be fine.
I hope this helps. Have a great day everyone.
Kindest regards,
Dan
[email protected]
www.adultfinancialservices.com
^^^ Dan, do you realise exactly how much you are loed and needed here? LOL, if it was not for you and Mel both, I bet 1/2 the girls I work with wouldn't ever file. Even with me telling them how bad it could get.
Thanks for being a helpful real person, who doesn't care what we do. It's hard to find a CPA that's willing to go through tons of reciepts on thongs, lol!
Geez, my CPA didn't even look through mine, I waved the receipts at her, she said "okee, give me the totals" and everything was fine - of course I didn't make oddles or was trying to deduct tons, sooo.
"I still have my name
I still have my face
I have not run away from home
Doesn't seem so long
If I now embrace
Every single thing I've never known"
A good way to know if something is deductible or not is to break it down this way: if I were NOT a stripper, would I still have bought this? You can write off anything you use JUST for work... Obviously, clothes count, your house fees count, you can write of tanning...some girls write off stuff like shampoo and gym memberships, but I wouldn't do this because you'd probably have both of those things even if you weren't a stripper. Write off about ten - 15% of what you claimed you earned, total. More than that could raise a red flag. Also, when you do your taxes, remember that nobody is going to believe you took your clothes off for 80 dollars a day. So claim enough
I 100% deduct anything that I buy or use for work - period. As Melonie said, you won't save any money if you don't deduct it, and the worst they can do in an audit is declare it was under the housewife test and disallow them (thus, you'd have to pay the taxes on the difference. A girl at work was audited, and they told her she could only deduct 30% of her makeup and beauty products! She fought it (not in court, just the agent), and they eventually allowed 60%.
My CPA said it's not our job to do the IRS's job for them. As long as the item is legitamately used for work, deduct it. I also deduct my manicures and pedicures, because I would not have ever gotten any if I wasn't a dancer.
Btw, CresentLuna, you probably could've saved some cash and energy if you had your receipts pre-prepared on a spreadsheet. Although you always need to hold onto the paper, it also comes in handy to have an electronic reference of your tax file.
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