You Can't Deduct That

Robert D Flach for MainStreet.com /business-news.thestreet.com writes:Before I begin a series of Tax Tips on Itemized Deductions let me tell you what you cannot deduct on Schedule A.

MEDICAL -

• Health club, gym membership, or spa fees or dues (unless you joined, at your doctor's recommendation, solely to treat a specific condition, defect, or illness diagnosed by your doctor)
• Electrolysis
• Diet food, vitamins, or nutritional supplements
• Cosmetic surgery (unless necessary for medical reasons)
• Life insurance or income protection policies.
• Medicare tax withheld or the Medicare portion of self-employment tax
• Nursing care for a healthy baby.
• Illegal operations or drugs – the IRS "just says no" to a deduction for medical marijuana
• Imported drugs not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration
• Non-prescription medicines
• Travel your doctor told you to take for rest or to improve your general health
• Funeral, burial, or cremation expenses
• 
  

TAXES – -

• Federal income tax
• Social Security and Medicare tax withheld or paid for household employees, or self-employment taxes
• Transfer taxes or tax stamps on the sale of property
• Homeowners association fees
• Estate or inheritance taxes
• Charges for water, sewer, or trash collection

INTEREST -

• Auto loan interest
• Credit card interest or finance charges
• Interest on federal or state tax deficiencies or late payments
• Home purchase interest not secured by the residence
• Installment loan interest
• Life insurance policy loan interest
• Pension loan interest
• Personal loan interest

CONTRIBUTIONS -

• Contributions directly to an individual or family, regardless of the recipient's financial or health status
• Contributions to political or lobbying organizations or election campaigns
• The value of blood donated
• The value of your time to perform volunteer services
• Contributions to non-profit homeowner or condo associations, or social or sports clubs
• Contributions to foreign organizations
• Raffle tickets purchased from a church or non-profit organization (they can be deducted as gambling losses if you are reporting gambling winnings)
• The rental value of the use of a vacation property donated to charity for a "vacation auction"
• Appraisal fees to determine the value of donated (they can be deducted as a "miscellaneous deduction")

MISCELLANEOUS -

• Country and social club membership dues
• Commuting
• Expenses directly related to non-taxable income
• Investment conventions, meetings or seminars
• Legal fees for a divorce (unless related to tax planning or fees to collect taxable alimony)
• Parking tickets and other fines for illegal acts
• Travel to stockholders' meetings (except in "special circumstances" such as a proxy fight)

While not deductible on Schedule A, some of the above items may be deductible on Schedule C, E or F if they apply to a business, rental property or farm.