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Other cases have found that the taxpayer was an independent
contractor. See, e.g., Chin v. United States, 57 F.3d 722 (9th
Cir. 1995); deTorres v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-161.
In Eren v. Commissioner, supra, Mr. Eren was an architect
who worked for the State Department’s FBO from the late 1970s to
at least 1990. He worked as a project director for the FBO under
personal service contracts beginning in 1984. From July 1988 to
June 1990, Mr. Eren worked as project director for the
construction of an annex to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.
He performed the essential, everyday chores of the FBO’s
operations of constructing and maintaining embassies. Mr. Eren
supervised the construction of the annex; he was bound by the
construction documents for the building and could not exceed the
budget. Mr. Eren’s contract required him to “perform appropriate
functions and obligations in accordance with procedures or other
directives issued by the Contracting Officer or his designee”.
He was required to maintain a daily log and submit monthly
progress reports. Mr. Eren was not a specialist hired to solve a
problem. We found that Mr. Eren was an employee of the FBO. On
appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed
our decision, but noted that it was arguably a close case.
The case at bar is also a close case, but the totality of
the stipulated facts leads us to conclude that petitioner’s
relationship with the State Department under the personal
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