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incurred by petitioner in this case was for petitioner to obtain
representation during the investigation by Inspection. The origin
of the claim here had to do with petitioner’s conduct as an
employee of the Internal Revenue Service, not with his trade or
business as an attorney. Petitioner was attempting to protect his
employment, not his part-time activity as an attorney.
Petitioner’s legal expenses incurred for representation in
connection with the Inspection inquiry are therefore deductible as
employee business expenses on Schedule A.
B. Time of Payment
Of the legal expenses claimed for 1994 that relate to the
Inspection inquiry, the parties disagree over the deductibility of
a payment of $872. Respondent takes the position that the amount
was not paid until 1995, while petitioners argue that it was paid
in December of 1994.
Petitioners introduced into evidence a computer printout of
the attorney’s ledger card indicating that $820 in fees and $52 in
costs were billed to petitioner on December 21, 1994. But the
ledger card also indicates that the payment of $872 by check No.
3084 was not posted to petitioner’s account until February 20,
1995. Petitioner testified that he remembered writing the check
for $872 in December of 1994, “so that I got the tax deduction” in
that year. Petitioners offered, however, no canceled check, bank
statement, or other documentary evidence of the date of the
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