Roger Steven Lewis - Page 7




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          record and relying to some extent on the GE account statement               
          described, concludes that the equivalent 6.6524 shares (one-half            
          of 13.304 shares) petitioner owned on October 26, 1994, had a               
          basis of $50.5625 per share, the amount paid for the stock                  
          transaction of January 25, 1995.  Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d            
          540 (2d Cir. 1930).  Therefore, petitioner's basis for the 13.304           
          shares converted into cash on May 19, 1997, is $336.36 (6.6524              
          shares at $50.5625 per share).  The Court so holds.                         
               In his petition and at trial, petitioner claimed he should             
          be allowed an itemized deduction for educational expenses under             
          section 162(a).  During 1997, petitioner attended the University            
          of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).  He graduated from UCLA with           
          a master's degree in business administration (MBA) in June 1998.            
          Prior to his enrollment at UCLA, petitioner was employed in the             
          telecommunications industry.  He realized, as he stated in a                
          written statement offered in evidence, that "I needed additional            
          accounting, financial, and general business administration skills           
          as I was increasingly called upon to negotiate complex contracts            
          with a wide variety of clients."  The MBA degree, petitioner                
          felt, would provide him with that expertise.  At trial,                     
          petitioner agreed that the MBA degree qualified him for "a wider            
          variety of positions", although he did not pursue such positions.           
          The amount claimed by petitioner for his educational expenses is            
          ambiguous.  He testified that he borrowed $10,000 to finance his            





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