Here's a Puzzler

You wake up one day with a growth in your nostril, big enough to interfere with your breathing and hinder your sense of smell. Most folks might not be too upset at the latter, but what if your job requires you to discern between varieties of wine?

So, you schedule an appointment with the local surgeon to have it removed. It's medically necessary (since it impedes breathing), so it's most likely covered by your medical plan, but you have a high deductible, HSA-style policy; you're responsible for the first $2,500, and the procedure, after in-network re-pricing, comes to only $1,200.

You understand that it's also a tax-deductible medical expense, but only if you itemize and it's part of a bunch of medical expenses that hit that magic 7.5% of Adjusted Gross Income.

Now here's the puzzler:

“Can I write this off as a business expense? After all, I need my nose for my job.”

This is pretty important: since you're generally pretty healthy, it's unlikely that you'll hit that 7.5% of AGI's worth of medical expenses.

The Fox News story on which this post is based offers several possible outcomes, but I've just added a twist that makes it a lot simpler.

See if you can spot it, and let's discuss in the comments...