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Federal income tax return for 1994), petitioner testified on
direct examination that he “attempted” to take a section 179
deduction for the van on his tax return for 1994. Petitioner
testified that he took the deduction on Form 4562. He also
explained that he had trouble getting “Turbotax to show the same
vehicle twice, once for the 179 expense and once for the
depreciation deduction. I’m not sure that it came through.”
Using a figure of 83 percent for farm use and a purchase
price of over $20,000, petitioner testified that there should be
allowed for 1994 a section 179 deduction for the van of about
$14,266 for Schedule F use. Instead of reported Schedule F income
of $1,074, petitioner testified that the farm activity should show
a substantial loss.
Section 179(a) allows a taxpayer to treat the cost of certain
tangible property as an expense for the taxable year it is placed
in service. Petitioner, however, as with some of the other issues
in his case, has failed to take into consideration all of the
statutory requirements to be entitled to the deduction he now
claims under section 179.
The section 179 deduction is available only for section 179
property. See sec. 179(a). Section 179 property is property
purchased for use in “the active conduct of a trade or business”.
Sec. 179(d)(1). As used in section 179 the term “trade or
business” has the same meaning as in section 162 and the
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