- 23 - Schedule C as a business expense in arriving at adjusted gross income. See also McKay v. Commissioner, supra at 492. Section 62(a)(2)(A), in contrast to section 62(a)(1), allows taxpayers to deduct from gross income in computing adjusted gross income deductible expenses that are “incurred by the taxpayer, in connection with the performance by him of services as an employee”. The proper inquiry in deciding whether an expense has a “business connection” is what the expenditure was “in connection with”, and not simply whether the expenditure arose from, or had its origins in, the taxpayer’s trade or business. At current count, the phrase “in connection with” appears 288 times in the Code. There is a body of caselaw following and relying on Snow v. Commissioner, 416 U.S. 500, 503-504 (1974), that has interpreted the phrase broadly. In Snow, the Supreme Court considered “in connection with” in the context of section 174(a)(1), which allows a taxpayer a deduction for “‘experimental expenditures which are paid * * * in connection with his trade or business’”. Id. at 501. The Court compared section 174(a)(1) to section 162(a), which allows a deduction for expenses paid “in carrying on a trade or business”. The Court found section 162(a) to be “more narrowly written” than the “in connection” language of section 174(a)(1). Id. at 503. The Court held that section 174(a)(1) allowed a deduction even though the taxpayer had not been engaged in a trade or business in the year in which thePage: Previous 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011