Some rappers are arguing that they should be able to count their MAKE IT RAIN money as a tax write-off. Yeah, they want to deduct it as an expense on their income tax. How do they figure that?
--Bizzy Bone says, quote, "I'm giving charity to females who need their light bills paid. So, of course, that's a write-off. You write off your kids, don't you?"
--And GAME says, quote, "['Making it rain'] is good for business and promotion that comes with the lifestyle of a rapper. They bump our music in a strip club, so me giving the girls a little bit of change to shake their ass . . . that comes with the business. Everybody wins."
--Daz Dillinger says he's going to, quote, "see about getting my taxes fixed as soon as possible." And LIL FLIP says he's actually already used it as a deduction before.
--So do they have a point? Maybe. Would the IRS go for it? Probably not.
--Technically, they might be able to justify deducting strip club tips as an "entertainment business expense," as long as it's not, quote, "lavish or extravagant."
--So it might be hard for DRAKE to justify dropping $50,000 in a club, but you could maybe get away with a grand.
--It could also work under the "advertising and publicity" angle, but the expenses still must be, quote, "reasonable . . . and are directly related to business." Rappers do say that making it rain is something they do to boost their profile.
--Regardless, for this conversation to go any further the rappers would need to have RECEIPTS for the money . . . and it's unclear how that would work.
