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evidence that Kirshner Content contractually agreed to reimburse
petitioner’s expenses.
Petitioner points to the existence of an August 11, 1996,
reimbursement form signed by Kirshner as proof that petitioner
was entitled to reimbursement. The Court disagrees. The
document is indicative, at most, that Kirshner approved
petitioner’s expenses related to “identifying
acquisition/investment opportunities for Kirshner Content et al.”
that were incurred in 1996. Without any corporate identification
on the reimbursement form or an identification of petitioner’s
status as a person requesting reimbursement, the record does not
support a finding that petitioner had the contractual right to
reimbursement with respect to Kirshner Content and/or any other
Kirshner-related entity. Thus, the Court cannot conclude that
there was an actual bona fide debt with respect to the $7,118
claimed as a bad debt on Schedule C of petitioner’s income tax
return.
The Court further notes that petitioner incurred these
expenses over a 3-year period and did not seek reimbursement
during that time. The claimed expenses were still outstanding 4
years later. There is nothing in the record that adequately
explains petitioner’s delay in seeking reimbursement, if, in
fact, petitioner had incurred such expenses and was entitled to
reimbursement.
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