Vanessa K. Bernardo - Page 19

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               We hold that petitioner’s clothing expenditures constitute             
          personal expenses nondeductible under section 262(a) rather than            
          unreimbursed employee business expenses deductible under section            
          162.                                                                        
               C.  Tax Preparation Fees                                               
               The parties have stipulated that, prior to trial, petitioner           
          failed to provide substantiation for her Schedule A deduction of            
          $617 for tax preparation fees, and she provided no substantiation           
          during the trial.  She has failed to provide even the minimal               
          substantiation that might permit us to estimate the allowable               
          deduction as permitted under Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540,            
          543-544 (2d Cir. 1930).  Even under Cohan, there must be                    
          sufficient evidence in the record to provide a basis upon which             
          an estimate may be made.  Vanicek v. Commissioner, 85 T.C. 731,             
          742-743 (1985).  Here, there is none.  That complete absence of             
          substantiation means that (1) petitioner retains the burden of              
          proving her right to deduct any amount for tax preparation fees,            
          see sec. 7491(a)(2)(A); Rule 142(a), and (2) she has failed to              
          sustain that burden.                                                        




               8(...continued)                                                        
          Court, she necessarily fails the objective test applied by the              
          Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Pevsner, which casts a            
          wider net.  It does not appear that the Court of Appeals for the            
          Third Circuit, to which an appeal of this case would most likely            
          lie, has specifically adopted either test.                                  





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