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Petitioners also claim for 1989 $774 as a deduction for
unreimbursed employee business expenses. These expenses are for
"[taking] employees for refreshments after work to summarize the
events from the day and plan the next day".
Ordinary and necessary business expenses generally may not be
deducted under section 162(a) if reimbursement is available from a
taxpayer's employer. Lucas v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 1, 7 (1982).
Mr. Martin testified that most of the expenses he incurred for
taking employees for refreshments after work were submitted to and
reimbursed by his employer, but that he was required to "pocket
[the claimed expenses] because of budget constraints". Petitioners
presented no other evidence in this regard.
We are not convinced that had Mr. Martin sought reimbursement
for the claimed "pocketed" expenses in 1989, his request would have
been denied. Accordingly, except for the country club fees and
expenses, we sustain respondent's disallowance of petitioners'
claimed deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses for
1989.
Investment Expenses
The next matter for our attention is whether petitioners are
entitled to deduct $348 in investment expenses for 1989. The
expenses were incurred in Mr. Martin's investigating publicly held
companies with a view towards the possible purchase of their stock.
Respondent disallowed a deduction for these costs on the ground
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