Diesel Country Truck Stop, Inc. - Page 38




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          amount of gross income, deductions, credits, or other matters               
          required to be shown on the tax return.  If the books and records           
          are not adequate to establish the amounts of deductions or                  
          credits, but we are persuaded that the taxpayer is entitled to              
          deduct more than the Commissioner allowed, then we are required             
          to make some estimate of how much more should be allowed,                   
          “bearing heavily if * * * [we choose] upon the taxpayer whose               
          inexactitude is of his own making.”  Cohan v. Commissioner, 39              
          F.2d 540, 543-544 (2d Cir. 1930).  However, sections 274(d) and             
          280F(d)(4) provide that no deduction shall be allowed with                  
          respect to passenger automobiles or any other property used as a            
          means of transportation unless the taxpayer substantiates certain           
          matters by adequate records or by sufficient records                        
          corroborating the taxpayer’s own statement.  There is no leeway             
          for Cohan type approximations under section 274(d).  See Sanford            
          v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 823, 827-828 (1968), affd. 412 F.2d 201            
          (2d Cir. 1969).                                                             
               We are satisfied that petitioner paid about $15,220 for 9              
          months’ worth of American Express credit card charges.  We may              
          fairly assume that petitioner paid additional amounts for the               
          other 3 months’ charges.  But we do not have information that               
          persuades us that it is more likely than not that any of these              
          paid amounts satisfy the requirements of section 162(a) as                  
          automobile expenses, and, as far as we can tell, the record is              






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