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sustain respondent's disallowance of the claimed deductions for
1992.
For the years 1991 and 1992 petitioner claimed to have
incurred business expenses relating to "A & M Techservices". He
claimed these deductions on Schedule C. Respondent denied all of
these claimed business deductions for 1991 on the basis that
petitioner had not established that he was carrying on a trade or
business to which the expenses related.
Section 162(a) provides that there is allowed as a deduction
all ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred during the
taxable year. Generally, a trade or business is an activity that
is pursued in good faith, with continuity and regularity, and for
the production of income. Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S.
23, 35 (1987). Whether a taxpayer is engaged in a trade or
business is a question of fact. Walliser v. Commissioner, 72
T.C. 433, 437 (1979).
Petitioner reported on his tax return for 1991 that the name
of his business was "A & M Techservices". At trial, petitioner
claimed he was an engineering consultant, seeking to contract out
his services as an independent contractor. He reported no gross
income in 1991 from this business, but claimed deductible
expenses totaling $23,505. Petitioner has placed in evidence
numerous canceled checks and other documentation in purported
support of these claimed deductions. These checks relate to rent
payments, utility and phone bills, mailboxes, credit card
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