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LLP office and his home in Los Angeles, California, one of which
was the Southwestern University School of Law Library. In other
words, respondent argues that petitioner should have conducted
his legal research at a law library that was closer to
petitioner’s home and work office than the Chapman Law School
Library. Respondent argues that, since the primary reason
petitioner traveled to the Chapman Law School Library was to
visit his family, the mileage associated with this travel is not
deductible under section 262 as a personal expense.
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. For an expense to be
“ordinary” the transaction that 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. The
taxpayer bears the burden of demonstrating that the amount of the
expenditure disallowed satisfies the requirements of section 162.
Hradesky v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 87, 90 (1975), affd. per curiam
540 F.2d 821 (5th Cir. 1976). “The determination of whether an
expenditure satisfies the requirements of section 162 is a
question of fact.” Shea v. Commissioner, 112 T.C. 183, 186
(1999).
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