- 8 -
share of such expenses.3 Estate of Boyd v. Commissioner, supra;
see In re Sivak's Estate, 359 Pa. 194, 58 A.2d 456 (1948).
The expenses at issue in Boyd involved only repairs; here,
we must also deal with the deductibility of interest and taxes.
We addressed the deductibility of a cotenant's nonproportionate
payment of interest and taxes in the case of Cothran v.
Commissioner, 57 T.C. 296 (1971). In Cothran, we held that a
cotenant who paid 100 percent of the interest and taxes arising
from property held in cotenancy was allowed to claim only 50
percent of such payment as deductible interest and taxes. Id. at
301; see also Rev. Rul. 62-39, 1962-1 C.B. 17.4
Based on the foregoing, we hold that petitioner is entitled
to deduct only his proportionate share of the expenses arising
3
We note that, in fact, petitioner did receive significant
contribution from his cotenants, since he received their share of
the rental income.
4
Compare Conroy v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1958-6 and Powell
v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1967-32, where we held that a
cotenant may deduct more than his proportionate share of interest
and taxes arising from property held in cotenancy, where the
cotenant paid such expenses to avoid personal liability or to
preserve his interest in cotenancy property. Petitioner had no
legal obligation to pay more than his share of the taxes under
Pennsylvania law, and Pennsylvania law would not divest
petitioner of his cotenancy interest for his cotenants' failure
to pay their proportionate share of the taxes. 72 Pa. Cons.
Stat. Ann. secs. 5968 and 5969 (1995). Moreover, Pennsylvania
law provides that a cotenant who pays more than his proportionate
share of mortgage interest is entitled to reimbursement for the
payments in excess of his proportionate share. Weiskircher v.
Connelly, 248 Pa. 327, 93 A. 1068 (1915). In fact, petitioner
did receive contribution from his cotenants, see supra note 3.
Accordingly, the cases of Conroy and Powell are distinguishable.
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