I know you are not an accountant but...

March 5, 2016 6:16 AM

I feel pretty crass even asking this question but I am a wondering if I can write a bereavement gift off on my schedule C.

I am midwife who cared for a pregnant lady who had previously lost a baby. This baby was was stillborn. This all happened before she met me and I cared for her during a subsequent pregnancy.

This lady and I never had a "personal" relationship but as is typical with all of my clients her and I developed a warm midwife/client relationship.

I am planning to send this former client a gift (card/food/commemorative jewelry) on the anniversary of her baby's stillbirth. Probably spend about $100 total.

I absolutely plan to do it either way but I feel like this ought qualify as a business expense. You are not an accountant or my accountant but am I off base here?

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (4 answers total)

The IRS has a has a publication covering gift limits. Looks like you can deduct up to $25 of the value of each gift.
posted by vespabelle at 6:23 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Are you doing it because you routinely send gifts to former clients as a way of retaining their good will, or are you doing it for personal reasons? If the former, by all means take the deduction. If the latter, I think taking the deduction might make you feel a little creepy afterwards. As vespabelle points out, the maximum deduction is $25, so the actual tax savings is unlikely to be more than $5-$7, depending on your bracket. You might prefer not to take it.
posted by ubiquity at 9:34 AM on March 5, 2016

If the only way you know her is because she was your client, this is a business expense. The IRS would not blink at this, you would not be audited over this one thing, go forth and deduct.
posted by sageleaf at 9:59 AM on March 5, 2016

I don't think it is a "deduction" per se (as in vespabelle's link) but more along the lines of a simple business expense.
posted by flug at 10:48 AM on March 5, 2016