- 16 - the taxpayer did not reside in the household at issue--not only in W.E. Grace v. Commissioner, supra, but also in later cases, see Williams v. Commissioner, 53 T.C. 58 (1969) (Clair Smith distinguished, and head-of-household status denied on the grounds that the taxpayer had never lived in his adopted son's house), affd. per curiam 441 F.2d 1168 (9th Cir. 1971); Biolchin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1969-197 (head-of-household status denied because the taxpayer did not physically occupy his former wife's house), affd. per curiam 433 F.2d 301 (7th Cir. 1970). Other Courts have used a similar approach to distinguish Clair Smith, and to hold that a house in which the taxpayer does not reside is not the taxpayer's home for purposes of the head-of- household provisions. See, e.g., Muse v. United States, 434 F.2d 349 (4th Cir. 1970). On the basis of our head-of-household decisions--and our judgment about the ordinary meanings of words--we believe that a foster care provider must reside in a house or other residential structure, before that structure can qualify as “the foster care provider's home” for purposes of section 131. We are well aware that we have interpreted other provisions of the Code as not always requiring “home” to have a residential connection. In particular, section 162(a)(2) provides for the deduction of business travel, meal, and lodging expenses incurred while the taxpayer is “away from home”. We have long taken the position that a taxpayer's “home” for purposes of this provisionPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011