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Publications
Petitioners claimed $91 of publication expenses.
Petitioners paid $98.80 for the Sunday Star Tribune for the year
at issue. Mr. Soholt read the business section of the paper to
familiarize himself with area business news as well as to be
prepared in the event a client asked him about a particular
business article, although both petitioners read other parts of
the Sunday paper for personal use.
The cost of a daily newspaper of general circulation is
generally nondeductible. Wheeler v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1984-425. Petitioners testified that they each read parts of the
Sunday paper for reasons unrelated to Mr. Soholt’s business.
Petitioners’ use of the Sunday Star Tribune was not confined to
the business section. Petitioners have not offered a method for
us to estimate reliably how much of Mr. Soholt’s use of the
Sunday newspaper was for business. Petitioners are therefore not
entitled to any deduction for publications in 2003.
Telephone Expenses
Petitioners claimed $912 of telephone expenses. The parties
stipulated that petitioners paid $462.69 to Qwest for 2003.
Petitioners introduced documentation showing that they incurred
$39.64 in telephone charges from PowerNet Global Communications,
3 cents from TTI, and $55 for MCI calling cards, but they did not
explain the PowerNet Global Communications or TTI charges. Mr.
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Last modified: November 10, 2007