- 10 - two conditions: (1) the relative importance of the activities performed at each business location, and (2) the time spent at each place. Here we find that most of petitioner’s locksmith work was done on the premises of customers or third parties. The alleged home office in his garage was not petitioner’s principal place of business. Although petitioner stored certain equipment, machines, and some inventory of the locksmith business in his garage, he failed to show that the office was used exclusively for business purposes. We are aware of the exception provided in section 280A(c)(1)(C) that if an office is a “separate structure” not attached to the dwelling unit and is used in connection with the taxpayer’s trade or business, a home office deduction may be justified. However, the statute requires that the separate structure be used exclusively for business purposes in order to qualify for the deduction. The Senate committee report that accompanied the legislation enacting section 280A(c)(1)(C) states “with respect to a separate structure not attached to the dwelling unit, if the taxpayer uses such structure (e.g., a detached garage) for both trade or business and personal purposes, the exclusive use test is not met”. S. Rept. 94-938, at 148 (1976), 1976-3 C.B. (Vol. 3) 57, 186. Here petitioner provided limited testimony regarding his use of the garage office. While he introduced into evidence a hand drawn sketch of the alleged office, it is not possible to determine from the drawing whether the garage unit is a detachedPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
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