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The long commutes in Aldea were for personal reasons and
nondeductible; in contrast, the long commutes in this case were
for employment reasons and therefore are deductible to the extent
they are substantiated.
Section 274(d) imposes stringent substantiation requirements
for claimed deductions relating to traveling expenses and to the
use of “listed property”, which is defined under section
280F(d)(4) to include “any passenger automobile”. Under section
274(d), no deduction claimed with respect to the use of a
passenger automobile shall be allowed unless the taxpayer
substantiates specified elements of the use by adequate records
or by sufficient evidence corroborating the taxpayer’s own
statement. These substantiation requirements supersede the
doctrine of Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540 (2d Cir. 1930),
under which we may approximate expenses in certain cases where
the exact amount cannot be determined. Sec. 1.274-5T(a),
Temporary Income Tax Regs., 50 Fed. Reg. 46014 (Nov. 6, 1985).
The elements that must be substantiated with respect to
deductible expenses for business use of an automobile are: (1)
The amount of the expenditures; (2) the mileage for each business
use of the automobile and the total mileage for all use of the
automobile during the taxable period; (3) the date of the
business use; and (4) the business purpose for the use of the
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