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precisely defined in the Internal Revenue Code or the regulations
promulgated thereunder; however, it is well established that in
order for an activity to be considered a taxpayer's trade or
business for purposes of section 162, the activity must be
conducted "with continuity and regularity" and "the taxpayer's
primary purpose for engaging in the activity must be for income
or profit." Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S. 23, 35,
(1987). When a corporate taxpayer is involved, "the
determinative factor in resolving the trade or business issue is
whether the activity was engaged in with the intent to earn a
profit." Professional Ins. Agents v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 246,
262 (1982).
In this case, petitioner's sole source of income was derived
from the sale of pickle cards. Petitioner needed to make a
profit from the pickle card sales in order to fund operations.
Furthermore, petitioner's gross receipts from its pickle card
sales for 1993, 1994, and 1995 were $70,251, $57,944, and
$26,675, respectively. To produce these revenues, petitioner
must have conducted the pickle card sales with continuity and
regularity. Therefore, we hold that petitioner was engaged in a
trade or business of selling pickle cards and regularly carried
on such sales.
Petitioner argues that its sale of pickle cards is not an
unrelated trade or business because, under Nebraska law, only
exempt organizations may sell pickle cards, and therefore
petitioner does not compete with for-profit entities.
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