A state tax appeals board has denied a retired Brooklyn lawyer’s attempts to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on prostitutes, massages, pornography and other sex-related activities as deductions for “medical expenses.” Among William G. Halby’s disallowed deductions were $40,588 on his 2002 return for “therapeutic sex,” $70,776 for “massage therapy to relieve osteoarthritis and enhance erectile function through frequent orgasms” and $2,173 for “pornography to enhance sexual performance in lieu of taking Viagra.”
“Patronizing a prostitute is illegal in New York and, thus, a taxpayer cannot claim a deduction for any illegal operation or treatment,” the panel ruled in an unsigned opinion in Matter of Halby, Nos. 821494/821810. At any rate, virtually all of the services claimed by the lawyer had not been prescribed by a doctor and “were not for the treatment of a medical condition, but rather, were instead personal items,” the panel concluded.
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