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to the disallowance of home office deductions where a taxpayer
can establish that a portion of the home is used exclusively on a
regular basis as: (1) The taxpayer's principal place of
business, or (2) as a place of business which is used by clients
or customers in meeting or dealing with the taxpayer in the
normal course of business. While determination of a taxpayer's
principal place of business for purposes of section 280A depends
upon the particular facts of the case, the two primary factors
applied in determining whether a home office qualifies as a
taxpayer's principal place of business are: (1) The relative
importance of the activities performed at each business location,
and (2) the time spent at each location. Commissioner v.
Soliman, 506 U.S. 168, 175 (1993).
Petitioner has failed to establish that he used a portion of
his apartment exclusively on a regular basis for business.
Petitioner testified that the alleged home office was located in
a dining area between the living room and the kitchen. There is
no indication that the room was partitioned off from the rest of
the apartment. Furthermore, the evidence does not enable us to
find that petitioner used his home office to regularly meet with
clients. Finally, petitioner has failed to establish that his
home office was his principal place of business. The evidence is
clear that during the taxable years in issue, the principal
places of petitioner's law practice were at Robinson Silverman
and Dickey Greenbaum, where petitioner had an office and a
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