James C. Harris - Page 5




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          default, regardless of the percentage of support furnished by               
          each parent.  Petitioner’s claim is without merit.                          
               All deductions, including dependency exemptions, are allowed           
          as a matter of legislative grace.  New Colonial Ice Co. v.                  
          Helvering, 292 U.S. 435, 440 (1934).  Congress has the power to             
          condition, limit, or deny deductions in arriving at the net                 
          income it chooses to tax.  Helvering v. Indep. Life. Ins. Co.,              
          292 U.S. 371, 381 (1934).  Congress may make distinctions among             
          taxpayers as long as they are not arbitrary or capricious.                  
          Hamilton v. Commissioner, 68 T.C. 603, 608 (1977).                          
               The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States            
          does not apply to Federal statutes.  Labay v. Commissioner, 55              
          T.C. 6, 14 (1970), affd. 450 F.2d 280 (5th Cir. 1971); Cole v.              
          Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1975-144.  With regard to Federal                  
          statutes, the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment embraces              
          the principles of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th                   
          Amendment.  Johnson v. Robison, 415 U.S. 361, 364-365 n.4 (1974);           
          Caputi v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2004-283.  Under the Fifth               
          Amendment, a statutory classification generally is valid if it              
          bears a rational relation to a legitimate Government interest and           
          it does not implicate a suspect classification or interfere with            
          a fundamental right, and legislatures have especially broad                 
          latitude in creating classifications and distinctions in tax                
          statutes.  Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Wash., 461              







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