Drug dealer entitled to tax deduction for deal that went sour
An Australian High Court has ruled in favour of a convicted drug dealer who claimed tax deduction for $220 000 he lost on an illegal drug deal.
The court, reports The West Australian, refused to hear an appeal against an Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling approving the deduction for Frank la Rosa (56), a heroin, cocaine and amphetamines dealer in the 1990s. La Rosa had earlier been hit with a tax assessment demanding he pay tax on the $440 000 it claimed he earned in the 1994-95 financial year. But La Rosa claimed that $220 000 had been stolen from him during a drug deal that went wrong, so he should not be taxed on it. The tribunal agreed. Full report in The West Australian