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reimbursements on her tax return. Thus, petitioner’s deduction
for employee expenses must be adjusted accordingly.
In addition to disallowing petitioner’s vehicle expenses,
respondent also disallowed all of petitioner’s other unreimbursed
employee expenses, consisting of continuing education,
books/subscriptions, uniforms/maintenance, and telephone
expenses.
Deductions are a matter of legislative grace, and a taxpayer
bears the burden of proving entitlement to any deduction claimed.
See Rule 142(a); INDOPCO, Inc. v. Commissioner, 503 U.S. 79, 84
(1992).3 A taxpayer is required to maintain records sufficient
to enable the Commissioner to determine the correct tax
liability. See sec. 6001; sec. 1.6001-1(a), Income Tax Regs. We
recognize that under certain circumstances, the Court may
estimate the amount of a deductible expense. Cohan v.
Commissioner, 39 F.2d at 543-544. However, in order to estimate
the amount of an expense, we must have some basis upon which to
make the estimate. Vanicek v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 731, 742-743
(1985). Without such a basis, any allowance would be sheer
unguided largesse. Williams v. United States, 245 F.2d 559, 560
(5th Cir. 1957).
3 We note that sec. 7491(a) does not affect the burden of proof
where a taxpayer fails to substantiate a deduction. Higbee v.
Commissioner, 116 T.C. 438, 443 (2001).
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