- 14 -
Petitioners deducted on their 2002 return as unreimbursed
employee expenses the following amounts for “auto mileage and
possibly other travel-related costs back and forth to his Union
Hall looking for work”:
16 Days x $72 Honolulu <Oahu>, Hawaii = 1,152.
12 Days x $205 San Francisco, California = 2,460.
Although petitioners’ statement attached to their return
attributes the deductions to auto mileage and other travel-
related expenses, the rate petitioners used to calculate the
expenses for Honolulu was the applicable M&IE rate for June 2002.
The rate they used to calculate expenses for San Francisco was
the applicable maximum per diem rate, which includes standard
deemed substantiated expense allowances for lodging, meals, and
incidental expenses. Respondent argues that petitioners are not
entitled to the expense deductions claimed for petitioner’s
travels to San Francisco and Honolulu for several reasons.
In respondent’s opening brief, respondent argues that
Nebraska was petitioner’s personal residence and advances the
argument that expenses for travel to San Francisco and Honolulu
were nondeductible commuting expenses to and from his places of
work. Respondent argues that petitioners should not be allowed
deductions for these commuting expenses because they were free to
choose the location of their personal residence and chose to live
far from petitioner’s various places of work. Respondent’s
implicit argument is that petitioner’s union halls, rather than
Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: March 27, 2008