Alexander Firsow and Camilla Thomas-Firsow, a.k.a. Camilla Thomas - Page 8

                                        - 7 -                                         
          personal services provided by the taxpayer in that real property            
          trade or business to count.  See sec. 469(c)(7)(B); sec. 1.469-             
          9(c)(3), Income Tax Regs.  A taxpayer is treated as materially              
          participating in an activity only if the taxpayer is involved in            
          the operations of the activity on a basis which is regular,                 
          continuous, and substantial.  Sec. 469(h)(1).  In determining               
          whether a taxpayer materially participates, the participation of            
          the taxpayer’s spouse is taken into account.  Sec. 469(h)(5).               
          The temporary Treasury regulations promulgated under section 469            
          provide:                                                                    
               The extent of an individual’s participation in an                      
               activity may be established by any reasonable means.                   
               Contemporaneous daily time reports, logs, or similar                   
               documents are not required if the extent of such                       
               participation may be established by other reasonable                   
               means.  Reasonable means for purposes of this paragraph                
               may include but are not limited to the identification                  
               of services performed over a period of time and the                    
               approximate number of hours spent performing such                      
               services during such period, based on appointment                      
               books, calendars, or narrative summaries.                              
          Sec. 1.469-5T(f)(4), Temporary Income Tax Regs., 53 Fed. Reg.               
          5727 (Feb. 25, 1988); see also sec. 1.469-9(b)(5), Income Tax               
          Regs.  This Court has acknowledged that these temporary                     
          regulations are somewhat ambivalent concerning the records to be            
          maintained by taxpayers, but we have held that the regulations do           
          not allow a post-event “ballpark guesstimate”.  Fowler v.                   
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-223; Goshorn v. Commissioner, T.C.            
          Memo. 1993-578.                                                             






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011