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expenses presented on a Schedule C form.” Petitioner asserted
that respondent’s disallowance of his claimed expenditures was
premised on this concept.
As an initial observation, we note that presenting the issue
in this abstract manner amounts to little more than a request for
an advisory opinion as to Federal tax law. This Court does not
issue advisory opinions in a hypothetical context. The Court’s
rulings are restricted to actual cases and controversies.
Moreover, petitioner’s motion was and is properly rejected
because, regardless of the accuracy of the principle he seeks to
establish, the purposes of summary judgment would not be served
by a ruling thereon. Trial, having already occurred, would not
be avoided. More importantly, even an order in petitioner’s
favor would in no way expedite resolution of this case.
Substantiation would still be required for any allowable
expenses.
The notice of deficiency expressly provides that the
Schedule C deductions for 1997, 1998, and 1999 were disallowed
“since you failed to establish that the disallowed portion of the
claimed deductions were paid, and if paid, qualified as ordinary
and necessary business expenses, or that the expenditures were
made for the purposes designated.” Because the substantiation
issue under the actual facts of this case would remain before us,
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