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before and after the educational hiatus, and as such, the
educational expenses are nondeductible personal expenses.
We recognize at the outset that in today's business world
the effects of tax laws are driving considerations in virtually
all decisions. In this sense, a knowledge of the tax laws may
well be a common denominator in various professions from legal
practice as a tax lawyer, to the practice of tax accounting, to
the business of asset management, and so on. Nonetheless, we
still recognize the separateness of these trades or businesses,
even though the lines of demarcation may become somewhat blurred.
Regardless of how we define petitioner's occupations, we
conclude that the duties petitioner performed at Arthur Andersen
differed substantially from the duties petitioner performed at
STC. At Arthur Andersen petitioner predominantly prepared tax
returns and researched tax issues. In contrast, the raison
d'etre for STC was not preparing tax returns or researching
clients' tax problems; it was managing assets. While petitioner
may have prepared some tax returns and researched some tax issues
at STC, those roles were entirely ancillary to the function of
managing client's assets and acquiring new clients.4 In sum,
petitioner's employment at STC did not constitute the same trade
or business as his employment at Arthur Andersen, because the
4 Indeed, petitioner recognized in his opening statement that
"the duties and tasks and responsibilities at the Southeastern
Trust Company may be, in many respects, different from his duties
at Arthur Andersen".
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