- 21 -
maintaining a household. See sec. 1.262-1(b)(3), Income Tax
Regs. Section 262(b) provides that any charge (including taxes
thereon) for basic local telephone service with respect to the
first telephone line provided to any residence of the taxpayer
shall be treated as a personal expense.
Under section 280A(a) and (c)(1)(A), ordinary business
expenses relating to use of any portion of a taxpayer’s home are
not allowable unless the taxpayer establishes that the portion of
the taxpayer’s home to which the expenses relate was used
exclusively and on a regular basis as the principal place of the
taxpayer’s trade or business. See Hamacher v. Commissioner, 94
T.C. 348, 353 (1990).
Petitioners have not shown how these expenses, which are
clearly personal, are related to a trade or business. Mr.
Richards stated at trial that he had an office in the corner of a
partially converted garage, but none of these expenses appear to
relate to the garage. Petitioners offered no further evidence or
testimony on whether any portion of their house was used
exclusively for business. Accordingly, respondent is sustained
on this issue.5
5 We note that petitioners are entitled to deduct their
mortgage interest paid during 1994 on Schedule A. However, it
does not appear that this amount would exceed petitioners’
standard deduction.
Page: Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011