Stripper Finds Support in Bust Ruling

A stripper allowed by a tax judge to depreciate surgical implants that greatly enlarged her breasts said Tuesday that the ruling corrects rules that were unfair to entertainers in her field.

“It is simply a stage prop we are carrying around to make money,” Cynthia Hess said of the implants.

“I am happy for me and a lot of other girls in show business,” she said before performing at the Bamboo Room in Green Bay as Friday’s deadline for filing tax returns approached. “The tax laws seem to be against us everywhere we turn.”

Hess, known professionally as Chesty Love, and her husband, Reginald R. Hess, claimed a $2,088 deduction in 1988 for depreciation on the surgical implants to enlarge her bust size to 56FF.

The IRS rejected the deduction, citing many court rulings that said spending money to improve a taxpayer’s health or appearance, though useful for business, are too inherently personal to be deducted as a business expense.

But Hess, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., won agreement from Special Trial Judge Joan Seitz Pate, who last month ruled that the implants increased Hess’ income and that the breasts, at 10 pounds each, were so big and bulky that she couldn’t derive personal benefit from them.