- 6 -
The balance of the disallowed miscellaneous itemized
deductions consists of traveling expenses that petitioner claims
were incurred in seeking employment as school principal.
In general, section 162(a) allows a taxpayer to deduct all
ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the
taxable year in connection with the taxpayer's trade or business,
including expenses incurred in searching for new employment in
the same trade or business. See Cremona v. Commissioner, 58 T.C.
219 (1972); Primuth v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 374 (1970).
Expenses incurred in seeking a new trade or business, however,
are not deductible. See Dean v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 895
(1971).
There is some question whether the type of employment that
petitioner was seeking in 1993 (school principal) should be
considered the same type of trade or business in which he was
then currently employed (education specialist for the Department
of Defense). Nevertheless, we give petitioner the benefit of the
doubt on the point and focus our attention on the nature and
amount of expenses that petitioner claims to have incurred.
Petitioner claimed a $12,463 deduction for traveling
expenses that he claims he incurred in seeking employment as a
school principal. Of this amount $8,250 is attributable to
vehicle expenses; $472 is attributable to parking fees, tolls,
etc.; $1,941 is attributable to lodging, airfares, etc.; and
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011