Judith E. Stephenson Fast - Page 8

                                        - 8 -                                         

          She interviewed for about 2 hours and stayed for about 2 or 3               
          days, including Thanksgiving.  The fifth trip was to Charleston,            
          West Virginia.  Petitioner again had a 1-day interview and stayed           
          in Charleston from December 23 to December 29.                              
               As noted above, the regulations provide that travel expenses           
          are deductible only if the trip is related primarily to the                 
          taxpayer’s business, sec. 1.162-2(b)(1), Income Tax Regs., and an           
          important factor in determining this is the amount of time spent            
          on personal activities compared to the time spent on activities             
          related to the taxpayer’s trade or business.  Sec. 1.162-2(b)(2),           
          Income Tax Regs.  Respondent concedes that petitioner has                   
          substantiated the expenses in question.  However, petitioner has            
          failed to demonstrate that three of the trips in question,                  
          namely, the July trip to Beckley, the July trip to Los Angeles,             
          and the December trip to Charleston, were not primarily personal.           
          In the case of these three trips, each was at least 5 days long,            
          even though the job interview that occurred during each trip was            
          only for 1 day.  Petitioner has failed to show that any of the              
          remaining time, other than the time during interviews, was spent            
          on business rather than personal activities.  Moreover, two of              
          these three trips occurred over major holidays.  We find that               
          these trips were primarily personal in nature, and accordingly              
          petitioner is not entitled to deduct any of the travel costs                
          associated with them.                                                       





Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011