Can I claim tax relief on my dental and orthodontics work in order to be more professional and presentable to my clients on video calls?

Can I claim tax relief on my dental and orthodontics work in order to be more professional and presentable to my clients on video calls?

Management consultant asks:

Can I claim tax relief on my dental and orthodontics work in order to be more professional and presentable to my clients on video calls?

Acumenica answers:

No, this is not possible to claim this as an allowable business expense as it would fail under the Duality of Purpose* rule. There are instances where medical work would be allowable, say for a dancer or a professional athlete, but this is not the case here. This is a pretty much cut and dried case.

*Duality of Purpose refers to expenses that are of both business and personal in nature. In certain circumstances, if there is only an incidental personal element, the expense will be allowed. In the example above however, the expense is clearly of a personal nature, with the business element only being incidental. The teeth are, after all, used for non-business purposes.