- 8 - incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business". In order for an expenditure to be deductible as a business expense, the expenditure must relate to an activity that amounts to the present carrying on of an existing business. Koons v. Commissioner, 35 T.C. 1092, 1100 (1961). Thus, in order for petitioner to meet his burden of proof, it is necessary to establish that the expenditures in question related to activities that amounted to the present carrying on of a business. Reisinger v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 568, 572 (1979); Koons v. Commissioner, supra. Whether a taxpayer is engaged in a trade or business, and the nature of such trade or business, are questions of fact. Ford v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 1300, 1307 (1971), affd. per curiam 487 F.2d 1025 (9th Cir. 1973); Corbett v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 884, 887 (1971); Canter v. United States, 173 Ct. Cl. 723, 354 F.2d 352 (1965). The Supreme Court has interpreted the trade or business terminology of section 162 to mean that the taxpayer must be involved in the activity with continuity and regularity and that 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). In Commissioner v. Groetzinger, supra at 35, the Supreme Court stated "that to be engaged in a trade or business, the taxpayer must be involved in the activity with continuity and regularityPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011