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Port of Mystery’s deductions for expenses attributable to the
activity, as provided in section 183(b).
Section 162(a) allows a deduction for ordinary and necessary
business expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in
carrying on any trade or business. To be “ordinary” the
transaction which gives rise to the expense must be of a common
or frequent occurrence in the type of business involved. Deputy
v. du Pont, 308 U.S. 488, 495 (1940). To be “necessary” an
expense must be “appropriate and helpful” to the taxpayer’s
business. Welch v. Helvering, supra at 113-114.
Deductions are a matter of legislative grace, and the
taxpayer bears the burden of proving that he or she is entitled
to any deduction claimed. Rule 142(a); New Colonial Ice Co. v.
Helvering, supra. This includes the burden of substantiation.
Hradesky v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 87, 89-90 (1975), affd. per
curiam 540 F.2d 821 (5th Cir. 1976).
Section 6001 and the regulations promulgated thereunder
require taxpayers to maintain records sufficient to permit
verification of income and expenses. As a general rule, if the
trial record provides sufficient evidence that the taxpayers have
incurred a deductible expense, but the taxpayer is unable to
adequately substantiate the precise amount of the deduction to
which he or she is otherwise entitled, the Court may estimate the
amount of the deductible expense and allow the deduction to that
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