Standard Deduction

New Zealand’s Parliament asked for documentation from the Inland Revenue Department about what guidelines it uses to determine what is tax-deductible. The IRD responded with 35,000 pages of rules. Among them, the Evening Post newspaper found, are rules for prostitutes. Even though the sex trade is illegal, prostitutes must pay taxes. But first, they can deduct their costs for on-the-job bubble bath, dairy whip, condoms, lubricants, lingerie and see-through clothing. “Ordinary stockings are not tax deductible but patterned stockings used for work are,” the Post found. (Reuters) ...While tax auditors are allowed to deduct whips, pliers, hammers, bamboo shoots and any salt rubbed into wounds.