Wesley C. and Rhonda A. Wickum - Page 18

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          Commissioner, 49 F.3d 713 (11th Cir. 1995); Mosteirin v.                    
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-367; Lozon v. Commissioner, T.C.              
          Memo. 1997-250; and also in Feivor v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.              
          1995-107.  In the Butts line of cases, the taxpayers were                   
          insurance agents, so-called neighborhood office agents, for                 
          Allstate.  In Feivor, the taxpayer was a district manager for an            
          insurance company.  We held that the taxpayer in each case was an           
          independent contractor.  We reach the same result in the instant            
          case, and for the same reasons:  the circumstances, as a whole,             
          do not demonstrate a sufficient amount of control by Combined to            
          find that petitioner was an employee of the company.  In                    
          particular, Combined did not exert control over the manner and              
          means in which petitioner carried out his responsibilities.  See            
          Hathaway v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-389.                              
               Petitioner was a district manager; although he sold some               
          insurance, he was primarily engaged in the duties of a district             
          manager.  We have found that district managers, on average,                 
          earned only about 30 percent of their income from commissions on            
          sales, and we believe that at least 70 percent of petitioner’s              
          duties involved recruiting, hiring, training, and supervising of            
          insurance agents.                                                           
               Petitioner had extensive control over the manner and means             
          of the performance of his responsibilities as district manager.             
          He had very little supervision.  He reported only weekly to his             
          superiors and almost never received feedback from them on the               




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