-20-
With regard to the cellular telephone, petitioners failed to
provide evidence that the phone was used solely for business
purposes, and they were unable to estimate the percentage of
business use.
Petitioners are not entitled to any of their claimed $2,581
telephone expense deduction.
c. Home Insurance and Operating Costs
Petitioners deducted 9.53 percent (amounting to $509) of the
cost of insuring both their residences, as well as $1,415.67 for
home office operating costs (9.53 percent x $14,854.86). The home
office operating costs consist of the following: Petitioners’
gardener, petitioners’ housekeeper, storage for their recreational
vehicle at the local golf range, membership fees for a recreational
vehicle club, home appliance and fixture repairs, plumbing repairs,
lawn mower repairs, utilities, garbage, and water expenses, cable
television expenses, homeowners’ association fees, charges for the
installation of a security system as well as the monthly charges
associated therewith, playground equipment for their backyard, and
miscellaneous home maintenance costs.
None of these expenses was shown to be deductible by
petitioners under section 280A or any other provision of the Code;
rather, these costs appear to be personal in nature. Consequently,
petitioners are not entitled to deduct these expenses.
9 Their deduction was mistakenly based on a calculation
of 382 days, rather than 365 days.
Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011