- 14 - On the basis of facts such as these, the taxpayer has often claimed head-of-household status, on the ground that the taxpayer "maintains as his home" the house (or other dwelling unit) occupied by his (or her) relatives or dependents at location 2. In deciding head-of-household cases arising from this fact pattern, this Court has consistently held that the taxpayer must reside in a dwelling or house in order for it to qualify as the taxpayer's home. For example, in denying head-of-household status to a taxpayer with respect to the former marital home in which he no longer resided, we wrote (in W.E. Grace v. Commissioner, 51 T.C. 685, 688 (1969), affd. per curiam 421 F.2d 165 (5th Cir. 1969)): It is an elementary rule of statutory interpretation that "the words of statutes--including revenue acts--should be interpreted where possible in their ordinary, everyday senses." Crane v. Commissioner, 331 U.S. 1, 6 (1947). By providing in plain language that the household required to be maintained * * * [under the substantially identical head of household provision in the 1939 Code] had to be maintained by the taxpayer "as his home," we think Congress intended that such household also had to be the taxpayer's place of abode or house in which he actually lived. * * * In W.E. Grace we also considered the legislative history of (and Income Tax Regulations promulgated under) the head-of-household provisions. However, our belief that the ordinary, everyday meaning of a person's "home" was his (or her) place of abode, was clearly a key factor in our decision.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
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