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rendered with respect to petitioner’s income tax issues and
petitioner’s personal life (i.e., divorce proceeding). Moreover,
Mr. Moss’s letters are likewise ambiguous as to what portion of
the legal services at issue was rendered strictly for
petitioner’s income tax problems. Therefore, because it is
impossible to determine the nature of these legal services, and
due to petitioner’s failure to provide additional information
with respect to the nature of these services after the Court
ordered the record to be held open for that purpose, we sustain
respondent with respect to the disallowance of petitioner’s
deduction for tax preparation fees.
Third, and with respect to the deduction taken for
petitioner’s other miscellaneous business expenses for
entertaining clients and promoting his legal practice, petitioner
failed to provide the Court with any documentation or, for that
matter, credible testimony as to the nature and type of these
expenses. Section 274(a) provides that no deduction will be
allowed for items considered entertainment unless the taxpayer
establishes that the item was related to the active conduct of
the taxpayer’s trade or business. Sec. 274(a)(1). Moreover,
section 274(d)(2) requires that the taxpayer substantiate
entertainment expenses by showing adequate records or providing
sufficient evidence corroborating the taxpayer’s own statement.
In this case, petitioner’s testimony that he maintains a national
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Last modified: November 10, 2007