Gifts are not deductible, sorry.

There is no INCOME tax deduction for gifting.  

Gifting reduces ones estate for future estate taxes.

$ 82000 will require the preparation of  a gift tax return, unless there are numerous recipients of the gift.

Of course you can claim it, but deducting it is a completely different story.  Hopefully the money wasn’t pulled out because someone told the client it was deductible.