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amounts. Petitioner claims that “Other Courts have determined
that taxpayers were in the trade or business with a volume less
than shown by Thomas Scallen”, citing Cushman v. United States,
148 F. Supp. 880 (D. Ariz. 1956) (loans totaling $88,352 over 2
years); Serot v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-532 ($1,950,000 in
loans over a 9-year period); Ruppel v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1987-248 ($1,379,000 in loans over 4 years); Minkoff v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1956-269 ($300,000 in loans over 5
years). However, petitioner has overemphasized the role that the
number of loans and, for that matter, the number of guaranties
play in determining whether there exists a trade or business. We
agree that the volume of activity, e.g., lending and making
guaranties, is indicative of a trade or business; however, that
factor alone does not establish a trade or business.
Petitioner borrowed funds from credit card companies at high
interest rates and then lent those same funds to his companies.
There is no evidence that petitioner used any of his personal
funds to make these various loans, and there is no evidence that
petitioner was able to obtain, or expected to obtain, any
differential between the interest on loans from the credit card
companies to petitioner and the interest on loans from petitioner
to companies in which he had an interest.22 We cannot conclude
22For example, in Ruppel v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1987-
248, a case petitioner relies upon, the taxpayer borrowed money
(continued...)
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