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hoods and exhaust systems dissipate air and smoke produced by the
ranges and cooking equipment located in the kitchens, ventilate
the air in the kitchen areas of petitioners' hospitals in order
to ensure the proper operation of petitioners' kitchen equipment,
replace the air expelled from the kitchens, and remove steam and
humidity expelled by petitioners' kitchen dishwashers in order to
keep the dishwashers operating properly. The kitchen hoods and
exhaust systems do not serve to ventilate areas of the hospitals
other than the kitchen areas. The dishwasher exhaust fans and
related duct work operate solely to exhaust steam and other
vapors from the dishwashers. The dishwasher condensate return
units are dedicated solely to providing emergency hot water for
the hospital dishwashers. The piping is attached to the hospital
buildings and runs directly from a dishwasher to a boiler and
back to the dishwasher.
Petitioners contend that the disputed property items in the
subject category are not structural components of a building, but
are section 1245 class property, depreciable over 5-year periods.
Petitioners maintain that removal of the disputed property items
would not affect the hospitals' main water piping or sanitary
drainage. Petitioners contend that those items do not relate to
general building plumbing and thus do not relate to the operation
or maintenance of a building. Petitioners rely on the "sole
justification" test of section 1.48-1(e)(2), Income Tax Regs., to
support their contention that the kitchen hoods and exhaust
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