- 5 -
was not permitted to write the book at his university office, but
rather, he was constrained to write the book at his home.
Petitioner posits that because he used a portion of his home
exclusively in connection with his book writing project, he is
entitled to deduct under section 280A expenses of $5,094 relating
to that portion of his home used as an office. Further,
petitioner claims his book writing project required travel to
various libraries in the State for research purposes which
generated deductible business travel expenses. Finally,
petitioner claims, driving from his home office to his university
office constituted a deductible business expense. Petitioner
calculated that the expenses attributable to his book writing
project (which petitioner first deducted as itemized deductions
on his 2003 return and subsequently recharacterized as “business
profit/loss”) totaled $13,679.16.4
Discussion
As a general rule, the Commissioner’s determinations in the
notice of deficiency are presumed correct, and the burden of
proving an error is on the taxpayer. Rule 142(a); Welch v.
4On his return, petitioner claimed, and respondent
disallowed, $13,916 of Schedule A unreimbursed employee and other
miscellaneous expenses deductions; petitioner recharacterized
$13,679.16 of this amount on Form 1040X as trade or business
expenses, leaving $137.16 still claimed as an unreimbursed
employee and other miscellaneous expenses deduction. As
discussed infra, at trial petitioner claimed that he was entitled
to the Schedule A deduction for more than this amount.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 10, 2007