Umit Tarakci - Page 29




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          the payments.  Respondent does challenge the nature of the                  
          telephone calls.  Petitioner presented regular telephone records            
          from April, May, and June of 1993, bearing notations of the calls           
          which were business in nature.  Petitioner presented cellular               
          phone records from July to December of 1993 indicating the time,            
          amount, and place of the calls.  Cellular phones are classified             
          as “listed property” under section 280F(d)(4)(A)(v), and such               
          expenses must be substantiated by adequate records or sufficient            
          evidence which corroborate the taxpayer's own testimony,                    
          including:  (1) The amount of the expenditure or use based on the           
          appropriate measure; (2) the time and place of the expenditure or           
          use; and (3) the business purpose of the expenditure or use.  See           
          sec. 274(d).  Petitioner testified that the business purpose of             
          the calls related to legal matters and the affairs of Cilena, as            
          well as the dissolution of Aeternum.  We hold that petitioner has           
          established entitlement to a deduction for the regular telephone            
          and cellular phone expenses incurred.                                       
               G.   Security                                                          
               Petitioner claimed a deduction of $2,394 for security                  
          antitheft services related to the protection of the rental                  
          equipment.  Private security payments to protect property which             
          is subject to potential loss or destruction arising from the                
          operation of a business are deductible expenses under section               
          162(a).  See Munson v. Commissioner, 18 B.T.A. 232, 236-237                 






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