I got my flu shot yesterday and I’m writing it off as a business expense.  I wasn’t going to get one.  I’m reasonably healthy (knock on wood) and I’m not in any of the target groups susceptible to the flu, so I wasn’t going to bother.  What I didn’t know, was that without a flu shot I could be a carrier and infect other people with the flu.  In my business I meet with hundreds of people during the height of flu season.  I don’t want to be responsible for getting any of my clients or their family members sick.

But writing it off as a business expense?  That might seem like a leap, but it’s really not.  Every year when I’m preparing other people’s taxes, I write off all types of vaccinations for health care providers because it’s an ordinary and necessary part of their jobs.  I write off hepatitis vaccinations for people in the food industry because it’s an ordinary and necessary cost of working with food.

The key phrase here is “ordinary and necessary.”  It’s a term the IRS uses a lot in their small business publications.   I honestly believe that protecting my clients from a potential life threatening illness is an ordinary and necessary part of my business.  If you work with people, especially if you deal with senior citizens or children,  protecting them is indeed ordinary and necessary.   Therefore, in my professional opinion, a flu shot is a legitimate business expense.

One final thing, much to my surprise — it didn’t hurt!