James A. and Joan H. Soholt - Page 16




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          Soholt testified that they calculated the business portion of               
          their telephone expenses by determining the cost of the second              
          telephone line for their home that Mr. Soholt used for business.            
          Petitioners then added the cost of certain features on their                
          personal telephone line, such as call waiting, caller ID, and               
          voice messaging.  Mr. Soholt used the calling cards to call                 
          clients long distance.                                                      
               The parties’ stipulation and petitioners’ substantiation and           
          testimony regarding this issue do not fully explain how                     
          petitioners derived the $912 of telephone expenses they claimed             
          for 2003.  Petitioners’ documentation and testimony regarding the           
          amount of charges attributable to the business telephone line is            
          unclear.  Although we are permitted to estimate the business                
          portion of the telephone expenses under the Cohan rule,                     
          petitioners have given us no basis for such an estimate.  The               
          only thing petitioners have established is that Mr. Soholt used             
          calling cards to call clients long distance, and we find their              
          substantiation credible on this point.  Petitioners are therefore           
          entitled to deduct $55 for calling cards.                                   
          Uniform Cleaning Expenses                                                   
               Petitioners claimed $303 for cleaning expenses for Mrs.                
          Soholt’s NWA uniforms.  Expenses for uniforms are deductible if             
          the uniforms are of a type specifically required as a condition             
          of employment, the uniforms are not adaptable to general use as             







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Last modified: November 10, 2007