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Glad you asked this after tax season!

In Response To: OT: Tax deduction for a watch. Tax experts? ()

I think you would have a difficult time having the IRS buy off on your tax deduction for a new watch as a business expense or charitable supplies. Here's why:

1. It is true that items personally purchased for business are generally deductible as "Employee Business Expenses", in excess of 2% of your income. Unreimbursed expenses for charitable purposes are also deductible.

2. Without getting overly technical on the issue, to qualify, the item would have to have a function that would render it useless outside of your volunteer work. An good example would be if a citizen police observer purchased their own bullet-proof vest, provided the department did not have the budget to purchase one for them.

3. IMO, any watch (regardless of cost), would be treated more like an article of clothing required for work, but also useful outside of work. More like the suit and tie I'm wearing today.

To contrast the points in 2. and 3. a bit, a bullet-proof vest would have almost no value outside the working life of a police officer, but my suit and tie has at least some value as clothing outside work.

The IRS would allow the police officer's deduction and deny mine.

As an aside, the IRS once lost a case against an entertainer who had his custom suits specifically made without pockets. The Tax Court ruled that these suits were worthless to him off-stage, as he could not carry normal personal items outside of work AND the suits were left at the theatre after performances.

Bottom line, I wouldn't advise it unless you left the watch at the station or hospital when you were not volunteering.

I bill by the hour and don't think I haven't considered the issue, too! ;~)

The above is probably considered tax advice. So even though it's free (and worth only what you paid for it), the IRS requires me to add the following disclaimer:

Any tax advice expressed in this post is an informal opinion based on the information contained in this post. As such, the advice is not intended or written to be used for the purpose of avoiding any tax penalties and it cannot be used for that purpose.

Take care,
gatorcpa