IRS facing sex change suit
 

BOSTON - After a tormented existence as a father, a husband, a Coast Guardsman and a construction worker, a 57-year-old suburban Boston man underwent a sex-change operation. Then, she wrote off the $25,000 in medical expenses on her taxes.

But the Internal Revenue Service disallowed the deduction, ruling that the procedure was cosmetic, not a medical necessity, in a potentially precedent-setting dispute now before the U.S. Tax Court.

Rhiannon O'Donnabhain is suing the IRS in a case advocates for the transgendered hope will force the tax agency to treat sex-change operations the same as appendectomies, heart bypasses and other deductible medical procedures. The case is set to go to trial July 24.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...hange0717.html



I have absolutely no problem with people having sex change operations but seriously since when would you consider a sex change operation the same as an appendectomy or heart bypass. :rolleyes:

The last time I checked an appendectomy and a heart bypass can save a person's life. A sex change operation doesn't. A sex change operation, IMPO, is purely a personal choice plastic surgery.

I'm sorry, I might sound like a bitch, but you don't deserve a tax write off for a surgery that you are choosing to do.

I've had an emergency appendectomy, I sure as hell didn't choose to have one. My grandfather had to have a quadruple bypass, he didn't choose to have one.

I truly hope this lawsuit gets thrown out.

uh, yeah. no type of cosmetic surgery should be written off on taxes, unless perhaps it was repairing something from an accident, or cancer, etc.

i applaud her for taking such a big step and becoming what she truly was meant to be, but come on now...

what classifies as cosmetic surgery? something you choose to have...?

ETA: and who is the IRS to say what is and what isn't medically necessary?

Isn't it a typical IRS response? They are more kindlier and friendlier now are they not?:rolleyes:

Is it cosmetic or a physcological surgey?:confused:

This person had the sex change to feel better about himself (since it was male to female). The surgery was not life saving.

As for cosmetic surgery, I believe there is gray area. My aunt had to have a masectomy and then reconstructive surgery. She definately deserved the write off since she was fighting breast cancer. But that is my personal opinion.

This is over someone who is choosing to participate in cosmetic surgery to make themself feel better about themself. IMPO.

I think they called it cosmetic.

Well, one of the times that cosmetic surgery is write off-able (according to the article) is to correct a congenital abnormality or a disfiguring disease. In the eyes of many people who have sex changes, their bodies ARE "disfigured" and "abnormal" because they're the wrong gender. To live in the wrong body causes them mental pain and suffering.

Not saying whether I agree or disagree with this, just that this is the argument that'll probably be used.

and you know that because...? It is not an easy decision to make, and it's not about making yourself feel better. Constantly taking hormones and check-ups doesn't sound like fun to me

But wouldn't that fall under hemaphrodites, or when a circumcision went wrong (remembering an old Law & Order)?

We're having the same troubles with Blue Cross, with different medications. One of them is Singulair - which helps you breathe? I know it's a really bad habit, but I try to breathe every day, and Blue Cross won't cover the meds. I could go on and on with that one!

It's still a choice.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a problem that can be treated two different ways - physically (sex change surgery) or psychologically (counseling, therapy, anti-depressants). I don't believe people are really "born in the wrong body"...I do believe people end up with psychological problems that cause them to think they are the opposite sex.

Tell that to the transgendered person. Her life might not have been in physical danger, but mental anguish and depression from being born the wrong gender severely affects her quality of life.

Some hermaphrodites choose to live as hermaphrodites - i.e. they avoid identifying as one sex or the other as much as possible and believe babies shouldn't be operated on at birth.

Re the circumcision, that's obviously "disfiguring" if you screw up the penis and corrective surgery would be covered. The "nurture vs nature" that a boy can be raised as a girl (i.e. the L & O ep) has been proven to be a lot of hooey.

i can see where you are coming from, BUT there are so many mental disorders...just watch "medical incredible" or "mystery diagnosis"...

there are people who sleep-eat. there are savants who cannot function in daily life but can sculpt fascinating works. ever heard of narcissistic personality disorder?

if a person can be born with these mind boggling diseases and illnesses, why couldnt someone be born and feel they are in the wrong body? true, some could be developed over time, but some of the most profound cases were from people who said they knew as kids.

Wait - so that kind of "reconstruction" to "feel better about herself" (since, after all, there's no physical reason for her to need a fake breast, right?) should be covered?

Even though it has no effect on the actual cancer at all?

Doesn't a sex change have far more direct influence on things like depression and quality of life?

I think you're showing quite a bit of bias here.

I don't know enough about the transgendered, but I think your conclusion that the second form of treatment is equally effective as the first is an open point of dispute.

Also, while you might not believe people are "born in the wrong body," might it even be conceivable that a sex change surgery is an effective 'treatment' for the important psychological issues you believe contribute?

Seriously, it's a $25k medical write-off - the IRS should probably stay out of this dispute all together by allowing it.

They weren't born the wrong gender. They are unhappy with their gender to the point of pathology. Thats a difference.

I don't especially care if its a write off or not. People that collect taxes and people that increase taxes are bottom feeders anyway.

From their point of view, they were.

There have been times that anyone wishes they weren't the sex they were born, transgender isn't that just longer. I don't understand it, but I am certain that I can't unless I had been born a boy.

Transgender is a touchy subject in psychology, but I believe that it is best treated through gender reassignment surgery, in those that are truly transgendered.

if this person is truly truly a woman trapped in a mans body, and nobody knows that but her, i say what the hell... people try to carry dogs and cats and half-cousins on their taxes, why not this?

As another sort of tax fraud? I can see that.

if there was a way to tell 100% it wouldnt be fraud...however it would also come with the stigma of being a disease, disorder, etc. and i doubt these people want anymore labels stuck to them...

I think the real question we're all ignoring to this point is whether the actual sex change is a viable treatment for this condition, or whether it is purely 'cosmetic' in nature - is the IRS process for determining this more stringent than determining dependents?

no the REAL question is who deemed the IRS capable of making decisions as to what is and isn't medically necessary

Well, they're really determining what does or doesn't reach the threshold to meet the definition for a tax write-off - that's not a subtle or nit-picky difference, either. It's kind of their job.

So, this person is basically Screwed?

Yep sounds like it!;)

only quoting you because your points were succint and easy to discuss...

but all of this is such a debatable area - and seeing as so few people on GC are doctors or psychologists (or transgendered for that matter), its REALLY hard for me to take people's personal OPINIONS too seriously. and that's really what a lot of these arguments (both for and against) come down to... personal opinions. sorry, but people's personal and religious views just aren't enough of a real argument.

at any rate i'm totally with you on the taxing issue james. damn irs. there's a freaking bloated gov't agency i wouldn't mind seeing scaled back some...

- m

Isn't medical necessity determined by the situation being life or death? Or hey.. maybe a lady with low self-esteem would think a breast augmentation is "medical necessity"?

I don't really see how cosmetic surgery could ever be deemed a "necessity."

Medical necessity is based upon whether or not the medical procedure will enhance the individual's current quality of life or increase their chances for living. Women who have breast redux because of back or breathing problems get those and are approved by insurance companies because it is medically necessary.

I don't think sex change procedures are cosmetic

Flippin' scripts...
 

To be honest, most folks have yet to study strict gender identity crises under the "genetic microscope". Yes, there are genes and mechanisms of gene regulations that are gender stratified. Mutations in these areas of the chromosome is massive. So we usually are not talking about a fully independent adult. There are also nuances of genes that seem to be inherited gender-specifically. I think I just read a Science or Nature paper that if the epigentic inheritance was given from Mother to Offspring (be it male or female), then this gene pattern arises. Moreover, we are also beginning to scrape the surface of microRNA regulation and silencers.

Should this transgendered person write their invasive surgery off as a medical expense?

The amount of surgery required and the invasivity of it--meaning the fact that is person elected to have it and by the mere surgery, if there were complications, could have died from it--suggests no matter how cosmetic we think it was or if it was elective, the person should be able to write it off on his/her taxes.

Basically, should the IRS be making ANY medical/clinical decisions and are they qualified to do so?

They can hire outside contractors to decide. But it should be of the person's choosing or at least 1-2 contractors in a collective group.

But, I am VERY uncomfortable with the IRS probing into my medical personal life. That is a HIPPA violation.

Medicine does NOT judge... We are losing that aspect about US Healthcare.

thank you for saying that

How many transgendered people do you know on a personal level?

HIPAA.