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has failed to establish the source of all the deposits into the
account. He testified that two of his cotenants, Morhaf and Fuad,
contributed to the account in 1996. Assuming arguendo that
Gabriel was the beneficial as well as legal owner of all the money
in the household account, see supra pp. 31-32, Morhaf and Fuad’s
deposits into the account would constitute reimbursement for
expenditures made on their behalf. Gabriel, therefore, is not
entitled to mortgage interest deductions in 1996 beyond the 5
percent respondent allowed.
For the foregoing reasons, we uphold respondent’s
determinations with respect to petitioners’ mortgage interest
deductions.
Property Taxes
Section 164 allows a deduction for certain taxes, including
State and local real property taxes. In general, taxes are
deductible only by the person upon whom they are imposed. See
sec. 1.164-1(a), Income Tax Regs. As in the case of mortgage
interest, we have held that taxpayers who do not hold legal title
to property but who establish they are equitable owners of the
property are entitled to deduct property taxes paid by them with
respect to the property. See Trans v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1999-233; Uslu v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-551; Conroy v.
Commissioner, supra. Also, a taxpayer may deduct more than his
proportionate share of property taxes arising from property held
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