What I have posted here is an excerpt from today's edition of the Washington Post:
QuoteWoman Suing IRS Over Sex-Change Tax Claims
Case to Test if Procedure Is Deductible
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 1, 2007; Page A03
NEW YORK -- After years of painful soul searching, Rhiannon O'Donnabhain -- a former construction engineer from a devout Irish Catholic family in Boston -- decided to surgically change his sex to female in 2001. The struggle was equally tough financially -- hormone treatments and medical procedures set her back $25,000, a burden she felt could be partially offset by taking a $5,000 tax deduction for medical costs.
When she sent in her tax claims after the surgery, the Internal Revenue Service initially issued the 64-year-old former Coast Guard reservist a refund check for $5,000. But soon after, she was audited and ordered to return the refund because the IRS had determined that her surgery had been merely "cosmetic" -- and therefore not tax deductible.
You can read the comments from members of the medical and psychiatric professions in the rest of the article. I'm sure that this won't be the last we'll hear about this issue. Let's cheer this woman on in whatever way we can. She might be a reader or member here for all I know.
Wing Walker
P.S. I don't believe that I have violated any copyrights, *however,* please tell me if I have.
