James E. Blasius and Mary Jo Blasius, et al. - Page 31

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          ACC’s purchase of any installment contract, we find that                    
          respondent’s refusal to concede the deductibility of the loan               
          origination/acquisition costs in light of Rev. Rul. 99-23, supra            
          was substantially justified.                                                
               Respondent does not address the relevance of Rev. Rul. 99-             
          23, 1999-1 C.B. 998, to the deductibility of the loan                       
          origination/acquisition costs in his objection to the motions.              
          He does, however, address the applicability of that ruling to               
          costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of credit card            
          receivables in an IRS field service advice memorandum to the                
          Associate Area Counsel (LMSB), Philadelphia (Field Service Advice           
          200136010 (Sept. 7, 2001)) (the FSA), which we assume expresses             
          respondent’s position on that issue.14  The costs in question are           
          described as “expenses of determining whether to acquire certain            
          loans, and which loans to acquire”, a description that resembles            
          the credit analysis activities of ACC’s employees.  In the FSA,             
          respondent concludes that “no expression of congressional intent,           
          and neither * * * [section] 195 nor its legislative history,                
          suggest [sic] that costs of investigating the acquisition of a              
          specific capital asset are currently deductible”.  Respondent               
          concludes that “the holdings in Rev. Rul. 99-23 are not                     

               14  Although they have no precedential status, field service           
          advice memoranda may be cited as an expression of the                       
          Commissioner’s position.  See Rhone-Poulenc Surfactants &                   
          Specialities, L.P. v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 533, 543 (2000),               
          appeal dismissed and remanded 249 F.3d 175 (3d Cir. 2001).                  





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