Category: Deductions

This season we have fielded 27 inquiries about the deductibility of catnip. The rule is that expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Catnip is certainly ordinary. Whether it is necessary depends on who you ask and how recently they ate it.

If prescribed by a veterinarian to manage anxiety, a modest quantity may qualify as a medical expense. A bag of 14 grams over the year, at $8.50, is defensible. A bag of 400 grams with a stuffed mouse made from it is a hobby.

Hobby losses are not deductible. Neither, we regret to say, are the three days you spent on the stairs afterwards.

Several clients have asked whether the warm patch of floor by the south window can be claimed as a dedicated home office. The tests are exclusive use, regular use, and principal place of business.

The patch passes the first two comfortably, since you occupy it from 11:40 to 2:15 every day and no other cat is permitted. The third test is where it falls down. A principal place of business must involve some business, and a nap, however committed, has not historically generated revenue.

We therefore offer a qualified opinion. You may deduct up to 8 square feet at $1.50 per foot if you can show that you reviewed a document there. A bird going past counts as a document if you wrote it down.