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computer. Respondent allowed petitioner $1,543.50 of
depreciation in 1985, 1986, and 1987. Petitioner argues that he
used the Chrysler and the Rolls Royce in his trade or business.
Respondent counters that petitioner has not shown that he used
this property in a trade or business or held it for the
production of income.
Section 167(a) allows a depreciation deduction for the
exhaustion, wear and tear of property used in a trade or business
or property held for the production of income. Petitioner
submitted mileage logs which are supposed to represent a record
of business mileage for the Chrysler and on a 1984 Cadillac.
None of the miles in the log are identified as belonging to the
Rolls Royce. Petitioner did not testify, and presented no
evidence, regarding the business use of the Rolls Royce.
These logs are suspect as they do not appear to be prepared
contemporaneously with the occurrence of the supposed business
travel. See sec. 1.274-5(c), Income Tax Regs. The car the miles
supposedly relate to is often not identified. Petitioner
presented no evidence or testimony on how the mileage documented
in these logs related to his medical practice.6 Furthermore,
petitioner told Ms. Lippert that he lost all of his 1985 records
in a flood, but submitted mileage logs for 1985. Petitioner
6 For example, there are entries for miles driven to a tax
attorney, to "houghnorwood", to a library, to a marina, to the
Tax Court in Wash., D.C., to K-Mart, and on a trip to Columbus.
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