Emu feathers
So, an airline pilot and a massage therapist move their mobile home to a 78-acre lot of land in Tennessee and buy 20 chickens and two emus.
It may sound like the start of a joke, but it's not.
The couple would "from time to time" sell the chicken eggs -- $1 per dozen -- and emu feathers. They decided it was a business and deducted the cost of the animals' feed and maintenance on their taxes.
Unfortunately, they didn't record the income generated from these animals. So the court ruled that they didn't have a legitimate "trade or business" and therefore the costs weren't deductible as business expenses.
NEXT: Candy and flowers for secretaries
Last updated March 01 2011: 10:59 AM ET
