Cite as: 506 U. S. 168 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
be substantial. In this case respondent spent two or three hours a day in his office communicating with surgeons, patients, insurance companies, and hospitals; doing his bookkeeping; handling his correspondence; and preparing himself for his professional assignments at other locations. He received business calls on his office answering machine and, of course, his business mail was addressed to that office. Again, because these uses occurred on a regular basis, it is undisputed that respondent has satisfied this requirement.
Third, the use of the space must be as a "place of business" satisfying one of three alternative requirements. It must be used as:
"(A) the principal place of business for any trade or business of the taxpayer[,] "(B) as a place of business which is used by patients, clients, or customers in meeting or dealing with the taxpayer in the normal course of his trade or business, or "(C) in the case of a separate structure which is not attached to the dwelling unit, in connection with the taxpayer's trade or business." 26 U. S. C. § 280A(c)(1) (emphasis added).
Subsection (C) is obviously irrelevant in this case, as is subsection (B). The office itself is not a separate structure, and respondent does not meet his patients there. Each of the three alternatives, however, has individual significance, and it is clear that subsection (A) was included to describe places where the taxpayer does not normally meet with patients, clients, or customers. Nevertheless, the Court suggests that Soliman's failure to meet patients in his home office supports its holding.11 It does not. By injecting a requirement of subsection (B) into subsection (A) the Court renders the
11 See ante, at 176: "That Congress allowed the deduction where those visits occur in the normal course even when some other location is the principal place of business indicates their importance in determining the nature and functions of any enterprise."
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