Ralph Louis Vitale, Jr. - Page 28




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          1994.  The amount for 1993 consists of a joint venture payment to           
          Northwest and cash payments to prostitutes at Nevada's legal                
          brothels.  Petitioner produced a canceled check reflecting his              
          payment to Northwest and a contemporaneous journal supporting his           
          deductions for amounts paid to prostitutes to research his book.            
          The amount for 1994 consists of a variety of expenses, for which            
          petitioner has provided no documentary or testimonial evidence,             
          with the exception of his expenses to interview prostitutes on              
          out calls, which he substantiated by personal credit card                   
          receipts.                                                                   
               We allow petitioner to deduct the joint venture payment of             
          $4,350 for 1993.  However, no deduction is allowed for the                  
          interview expenses.  We find that the expenditures incurred by              
          petitioner to visit prostitutes are so personal in nature as to             
          preclude their deductibility.  In evaluating whether certain                
          expenses are personal or qualify as business expenses under                 
          section 162, the Court has found that some expenses are so                  
          "inherently personal" that they almost invariably are held                  
          to come within the ambit of section 262.17  Fred W. Amend Co. v.            
          Commissioner, supra.  All the other items constituting "other               
          expenses" for 1993 and 1994 are disallowed for lack of sub-                 
          stantiation.                                                                


               17Sec. 262 provides that "no deduction shall be allowed for            
          personal, living, or family expenses."                                      





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