- 29 -
involving commuting expense, he clearly underestimated the amount
of nondeductible commuting mileage. Dr. Hillman elsewhere
testified that he held office hours and performed operations at
hospitals 4 to 5 days per week and made hospital rounds 5 to 6
days a week. Thus, on the additional 1 to 2 days per week that
he made hospital rounds without holding office hours, he still
had nondeductible commuting expenses in connection with the trip
from his residence to the hospital, see Sheldon v. Commissioner,
supra at 27, which have not been accounted for in his estimation
methods.
Further, the record does not reveal what the distances were
between Dr. Hillman’s residence and the hospitals where he made
rounds. Dr. Hillman testified that the distance between his
residence and “the hospital” was about 12 miles, but according to
his other testimony there were five hospitals at which he
operated. Thus, there is no basis upon which we might estimate
the additional commuting mileage.
Finally, we find Dr. Hillman’s estimates improbable.11 Even
if we reduce Dr. Hillman’s total business miles claimed by an
additional 2 days per week of 24 commuting miles per day (or
2,492 miles per year), the result is that Dr. Hillman is
11 As noted previously, the incorrect representations
regarding a horse’s valuation on petitioners’ 1994 return, among
other inconsistencies, cast doubt on Dr. Hillman’s testimony, and
we therefore give it less weight in this context as well.
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