- 37 - and development as well as farming activities on the 80 acres allocated to Utah I. We also hold that Utah I had no realistic prospect of entering into a trade or business with regard to the technology that was to be developed by U.S. Agri. The Supreme Court's decision in Snow v. Commissioner, supra, "makes it important to determine whether the prospects for developing a new product that will be exploited in a business of the taxpayer are realistic". Spellman v. Commissioner, 845 F.2d 148, 149 (7th Cir. 1988), affg. T.C. Memo. 1986-403. Unless the taxpayer can show that there is a realistic prospect that he will ultimately engage in a trade or business that exploits the developed technology, a research and experimental expenditure cannot be said to have been paid or incurred "in connection with" a trade or business. Harris v. Commissioner, 16 F.3d 75, 81 (5th Cir. 1994), affg. T.C. Memo. 1990-80, supplemented by 99 T.C. 121 (1992); Zink v. United States, supra at 1023; Spellman v. Commissioner, supra at 148-149; Diamond v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 423, 439 (1989), affd. 930 F.2d 372 (4th Cir. 1991). The management of investments, however, is not a trade or business, regardless of how extensive or complete the portfolio or how much time is required to manage the investments. Green v. Commissioner, supra at 688-689. This Court and other courts have scrutinized claimed research and development expenditures toPage: Previous 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011