- 7 - In United States v. Gilmore, 372 U.S. 39, 48 (1963), the Supreme Court held that the test for whether legal fees are business or personal expenses depends upon whether the claim arises in connection with the taxpayer's profit-seeking activities or his personal activities. Under this "origin of the claim" test, the Court held that legal expenses paid to defeat claims arising from a marital relationship were personal and non- deductible. Id. at 51. The Court noted that it is irrelevant whether the taxpayer's income-producing property would be affected by the outcome of the divorce proceeding. See id. at 48. Petitioner testified that his legal fees were "related to the divorce proceeding as it related to [his] business." Petitioner's uncorroborated testimony was general, vague, and conclusory. Under these circumstances, we are not required to, and do not, rely on petitioner's testimony to sustain his burden of establishing error in respondent's determination. See Lerch v. Commissioner, 877 F.2d 624, 631-632 (7th Cir. 1989), affg. T.C. Memo. 1987-295; Tokarski v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 74, 77 (1986). Petitioner provided no further evidence that the legal expenses arose out of his businesses. In applying the Gilmore test, the origin of petitioner's claim arose from the marital relationship between petitioner and Mrs. Condello, and not fromPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011