IRS and Sex Change Operations

I've got one big problem with the article, it states:
"The Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has recently won a complaint against the IRS over tax-deductions for so-called “sex change” operations." Now, I used to be a tax accountant, and there would be some sort of legal notation of this "decision". A Revenue Ruling or Revenue Procedure number, or some sort of Tax Court case number, something like that.

If anyone here has access to a tax law service, can you confirm this? Otherwise, it sounds a bit like hyperventilating. From the IRS' Publication 502:

Cosmetic Surgery: Generally, you cannot include in medical expenses the amount you pay for unnecessary cosmetic surgery. This includes any procedure that is directed at improving the patient’s appearance and does not meaningfully promote the proper function of the body or prevent or treat illness or disease. You generally cannot include in medical expenses the amount you pay for procedures such as face lifts, hair transplants, hair removal (electrolysis), teeth whitening, and liposuction.

You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for cosmetic surgery if it is necessary to improve a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease.

If the IRS has "allowed" sex change surgery, then it is buying into the idea that "being born into the wrong gender" is some sort of congenital defect. I could see this only under very limited circumstances, such as where a person's external features do not match their chromosomal pattern, for instance.

Of course, if this is for real, somebody in Congress can get a "no tax-deductable sex changes" amendment into the next tax correction act that passes through. I have no doubt it would be easy to do in the next session. But if this is to be fought, it must be fought with truth, and not hysteria. Starting with the actual ruling from the IRS is the first place to do it.

OK, I've done a bit of research since my previous post. It seems that someone in the Massachusetts area (surprise, surprise!) was denied a medical deduction for a sex change operation, in an audit done by a tax examiner. The taxpayer solicited the help of someone from GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) to go to the next step in the audit process, which is the administrative appeals level. It was at that place where the tax examiner's determination was reversed.

In other words, this was not a decision made at the highest levels of tax policy formation. This is a rogue decision made by one Appeals Officer, who will probably be looking for a new job soon. It has no value as precedent, as it does not constitute "tax law" as it is commonly understood.

However, it can be used to motivate Congresscritters when they swear back in again in January. Fortunately, the transgender folks are hyping it up just as much as the fundamentalists are, both think that it's a new turn for our country, it's just that they disagree on whether its a good turn or a bad one. I suppose that a Republican controlled House, Senate, and Presidency will weigh in on this one before you can close the books on this issue.

They can. It's dealing with mitigating the symptoms of a normal aging function of the body. Same as getting glasses.

It is a great leap for someone in the IRS to say that sex change surgery is needed to deal with the congenital defect of having your brain born into the body of the wrong gender. It also seems like something that Congress could define in law. Of course, they could make abortions non tax deductable, but they've refused to do that, too.

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