Pavel Dobra and Ana Dobra - Page 14

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          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.                                       






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