Lamar Odom sues IRS over deductions

The Lakers star is disputing a 2007 tax bill that doesn't allow him to take deductions for $12,000 in sports fines and $178,000 in fitness training, says Forbes writer William Barrett. "These fines are commonly assessed on professional athletes and are work related," writes Odom in his suit, filed in U.S. Tax Court. "Therefore the fines incurred are ordinary and necessary employee business expense."

Federal law generally prohibits tax deductions for financial sanctions resulting from criminal cases and matters like traffic violations. But Odom wrote, "The fines imposed by the team and the NBA are not imposed for the violation of any government law and are therefore not specifically excluded." On the same reasoning, Odom, now 31, also attacked an IRS decision not to allow taxpayers in effect to subsidize his efforts as a pro athlete to stay fit. "The taxpayer claimed $178,337 of employee business expenses for professional training and conditioning," he wrote. "The taxpayer's employment contract requires that the taxpayer be in sufficient physical condition that allows him to perform as a professional basketball player throughout the basketball season."

Tax courts tend to frown on writing off such items because they are considered personal expenses, although Odom's argument about the fitness training would seem to make sense. Papers attached to his pleading put his 2007 adjusted gross income at $9.3 million.