- 20 - was required to use when selling insurance, and it is true that one of several factors we relied on in Butts v. Commissioner, supra, was the lack of a “‘canned’ sales method”. However, there is no evidence that Combined ever fired insurance agents merely for straying from the scripted sales talk; indeed, there is evidence that Combined's senior management acquiesced in departures from the scripted presentation so long as products were not misrepresented. In any event, petitioner’s supervisory activities constituted a much larger proportion of his work than sales. Petitioner was required by the language of the Contract to abide by rules and regulations of Combined and by directions of Combined’s authorized personnel. However, in Feivor v. Commissioner, supra, we found the taxpayer to be an independent contractor notwithstanding the fact that he entered into an agreement that obligated him to abide by company regulations and provisions contained in the district manager’s manual and to recruit, train, supervise, and motivate agents subject to the direction of the company. Moreover, in the instant case the record reveals that petitioner routinely devised his own manner and means of reaching results without regard to Combined’s written guidelines, and Combined’s senior management acquiesced in such departures. The only significant difference between the instant case, on the one hand, and the Butts line of cases and Feivor, on thePage: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next
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