Tax Refund for Hair Transplant?

[HappyMan2021]

Wondering if anyone here has successfully gotten a tax write-off or refund for their hair transplant? Or any type of financial benefit?

FYI I am American who has paid 16k euros to Mwamba, plus 4k euros to Belgium for the VAT tax.

I wish hair transplants were covered by insurance. My upcoming repair procedure doesn't feel 'elective' or 'voluntary' at all. My desire to remove horribly angled grafts and have natural-looking hair isn't a frivolous aesthetic pursuit in my opinion. 

Edited December 29, 2022 by HappyMan2021

[user2022]

Are you referring VAT Refund? If so this is normally only valid for certain goods and not services. 

[HappyMan2021]

6 minutes ago, user2022 said:

Are you referring VAT Refund? If so this is normally only valid for certain goods and not services. 

looking for literally any type of tax law or other method that reduces my costs in the slightest.

And yes I knew previously that VAT was for goods and not services. 

Rustles my jimmies I'm forced to pay the Belgian government 4k euros for this procedure. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Unless you’re an influencer of some sort.  I don’t see how you can claim a hair transplant. Maybe if you’re in the public eye, and your job requires you to keep up appearances. I know Trump claimed hair products in his taxes. 

[FUT4000]

1 hour ago, HappyMan2021 said:

Wondering if anyone here has successfully gotten a tax write-off or refund for their hair transplant? Or any type of financial benefit?

FYI I am American who has paid 16k euros to Mwamba, plus 4k euros to Belgium for the VAT tax.

I wish hair transplants were covered by insurance. My upcoming repair procedure doesn't feel 'elective' or 'voluntary' at all. My desire to remove horribly angled grafts and have natural-looking hair isn't a frivolous aesthetic pursuit in my opinion. 

I will be claiming my second hair transplant as a business expense. If you own and operate a business you can attempt to write off anything, as long as you have good reason to. If you get audited then all you have to do is pay it off, its no big deal. 

[HappyMan2021]

5 minutes ago, FUT4000 said:

If you get audited then all you have to do is pay it off, its no big deal. 

hmmm, maybe I will attempt to write off the hair transplant. Might as well shoot my shot. 

[Melvin- Admin]

54 minutes ago, FUT4000 said:

I will be claiming my second hair transplant as a business expense. If you own and operate a business you can attempt to write off anything, as long as you have good reason to. If you get audited then all you have to do is pay it off, its no big deal. 

You can also do this if you’re a 1099 contractor. It’s reasonable if you’re in the public eye, or you deal directly face to face with clients.

[Pbaird98]

15 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

You can also do this if you’re a 1099 contractor. It’s reasonable if you’re in the public eye, or you deal directly face to face with clients.

Can I ask what is a 1099 contractor? Please explain to a Uk person 😁

[Gatsby]

I looked into this myself @HappyMan2021 but had no luck.

[HappyMan2021]

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

I looked into this myself @HappyMan2021 but had no luck.

thanks @Gatsby, yes I just spent the last 2 hours going down this VAT tax rabbit hole myself and can't find anything that would help. 

I know for a fact Bisanga's office gets the tax waived for patients, but for whatever reason Mwamba doesn't. I guess I just have to accept that. 

I may try my luck directly with Belgian customs at the airport, although those odds seem slim. And attempt to file a claim with the US IRS. 

Very stressful paying such a large tax to a foreign government that won't benefit me in any way. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by HappyMan2021

[Gatsby]

Don’t worry @HappyMan2021. Think of the benefits to your appearance. 👌

[bigmistake]

18 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Unless you’re an influencer of some sort.  I don’t see how you can claim a hair transplant. Maybe if you’re in the public eye, and your job requires you to keep up appearances. I know Trump claimed hair products in his taxes. 

That is different from a tax refund. He claimed that as an expense in his income statement, thereby reducing his earned income on which tax is calculated. 

Unless OP has a business that is influenced by his appearance, he cannot claim it as a tax write off. 

 

[shiba1985]

18 hours ago, FUT4000 said:

I will be claiming my second hair transplant as a business expense. If you own and operate a business you can attempt to write off anything, as long as you have good reason to. If you get audited then all you have to do is pay it off, its no big deal. 

If you knowingly falsify your tax return, the worse that can happen is prison time. It is rare but sometimes they do it to set example. 

 

[bigmistake]

This solution is a bit out there. You can fake yourself as an "influencer" get a GST registration in India, get a repair in India, and claim that as an input tax credit in your GST by showing it as a business expense. Of course, no Indian clinic will ever agree to it. Obviously this is hypothetical, I'm not asking you to break the law or anything.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@HappyMan2021,

i’m certainly not an expert in this field but I can’t think of any tax law or rule that would enable you to write off a Hair Transplant. Perhaps unless you can somehow prove that hair loss is the primary and sole cause of a deep depression that is affecting your life and ability to work. And even if you can, I’m not sure it’s possible.  Remember also that hair transplantation is not a good or goods but a service.

You also need to keep in mind that hair transplant surgery is an elective procedure and hair loss/male pattern baldness is an affliction that affects a large percentage of men. If one person could write off a hair transplant then everybody could. And it’s my understanding that hair transplantation   is not a non-taxable service or refundable through the government in anyway.

if somebody has information and proof otherwise, I’ll be interested in hearing about it but I’ve never heard of anything like this.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

[HappyMan2021]

thanks all. there is already so much to focus on with this upcoming surgery, I think I may just have to eat this charge and accept it, so I can focus on bigger priorities. 

It just feels like a rotten deal. The Belgian government will owe me 4k euros in government services, they are never going to come thru with it lol. 

[FUT4000]

On 12/30/2022 at 9:34 AM, shiba1985 said:

If you knowingly falsify your tax return, the worse that can happen is prison time. It is rare but sometimes they do it to set example. 

 

They wont take you to prison they will basically tell you to pay it back and if you dont then they fine you. Prisons are too packed for minor tax frauds like a hair transplant. Its not a multimillion dollar situation.

[gillenator]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:17 PM, Pbaird98 said:

Can I ask what is a 1099 contractor? Please explain to a Uk person 😁

In the US a 1099 is a federal tax disclosure form that reports income that had no taxes withheld from it…individuals who are self-employed sub-contractors typically earn their income this way.