Fabian Vaksman - Page 13




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          development expense; indeed, the cost of any activity or                    
          undertaking, regardless of its relationship to a taxpayer’s trade           
          or business, would be similarly deductible.  The “ordinary and              
          necessary” requirement, which is an integral part of section                
          162(a), is not so elastic a concept as to countenance a marginal            
          relationship between an expense and a taxpayer’s trade or                   
          business.                                                                   
               In view of the foregoing, we sustain respondent’s                      
          determination and hold that petitioner is not entitled to any               
          deduction for educational expense.                                          
          D.  Home Office Expense                                                     
               Petitioner deducted $5,280 for business use of home.                   
          Petitioner claims that he used 80 percent of his one-bedroom                
          apartment for business and that the cost of keeping up and                  
          running his apartment was $6,600.  In contrast, respondent                  
          allowed a deduction in the amount of $1,588 based on a business             
          use percentage of 25 applied against documented rent expense of             
          $6,350.                                                                     
               At trial, petitioner readily admitted that the 80 percent              
          figure was an estimate.  Petitioner sought to justify his                   
          estimate through such testimony as “Even the bed is being used              
          when I’m translating” and “I have my staplers standing in the               
          bathroom.”                                                                  
               As a general rule, section 280A(a) provides that no                    






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