A tax court has ruled that expenses incurred in securing sex reassignment surgery are tax deductible, as the procedure is not one of aesthetic preference, but rather medical necessity. This technically means that everyone who is paying taxes is subsidizing sex reassignment, a fact that would give Michele Bachmann a coronary. This is only going to lead to everyone getting recreational sex changes. Anarchy in the pants!
TIME magazine reports that the ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Rhiannon O’Donnabhain, who was audited after attempting to deduct expenses related to her sex reassignment surgery in 2003. Originally, the IRS claimed that sex reassignment surgery is purely aesthetic in nature, but O’Donnabhain’s attorneys claimed that Gender Identity Disorder is a serious medical issue and that she’d suffered from it since age 10. The tax court agreed.
According to the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, this will bring welcome financial relief to the 1,000 Americans receive gender reassignment surgery per year. Cost of surgery can exceed $10,000.
The court denied O’Donnabhain’s request to deduct expenses related to her breast enhancement surgery, as that’s an aesthetic choice and I suppose they didn’t want to open the door for people claiming that their nonspherical breasts were causing them psychological distress to be able to write off their boob jobs.
The court seemed uncomfortable with the nature of the ruling, noting that they don’t want to be in a position to “legislate morality” (which is funny, considering that the amount you pay for an abortion is tax deductible. Very tricky, IRS. And awesome). But the ruling stands. Let’s all get abortions and penises!
Tax court rules that sex change is now deductible [TIME]
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