Helen Sophie Schroeder - Page 12

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                     nature.  If, however, they were made merely to                          
                     "keep" the asset in efficient operating condition,                      
                     then they are repairs and are deductible.                               
                     [Moss v. Commissioner, 831 F.2d 833, 835 (9th                           
                     Cir. 1987), revg. T.C. Memo. 1986-128 (quoting                          
                     Estate of Walling v. Commissioner, 373 F.2d 190,                        
                     192-193 (3d Cir. 1967)).]                                               
          Whether an expense is deductible or must be capitalized is a                       
          question of fact.  See Plainfield-Union Water Co. v.                               
          Commissioner, 39 T.C. 333, 338 (1962) (the test is whether an                      
          expense materially enhances the value of property or appreciably                   
          prolongs the life of the property).                                                
                Most of the expenditures at issue were for maintenance and                   
          repairs; they simply kept the capital asset in efficient                           
          operating condition.  Prepping, treating, and painting wood,                       
          repounding nails, replacing a relatively small number of tin roof                  
          sheets, sealing nail holes, and painting roofs of buildings that                   
          were already in operating condition do not constitute capital                      
          improvements.  These expenditures simply restored the buildings                    
          to their previous condition without adding to the value of the                     
          buildings or prolonging their life in a way that require the                       
          expenditures to be treated as capital.  However, replacing two                     
          support rods on the Rhodes barn, dividing a stall into two                         
          foaling stalls on the Whitefeather barn, and the installation of                   
          a water heater in the Rhodes house are capital improvements.                       
          Also, the costs of demolishing the sheep shed, the cow stable,                     
          and the chicken coop on the Whitefeather property are                              
          nondeductible.  Sec. 280B.  Respondent does not argue that all of                  




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