TAXATION-INCOME TAX-DEDUCTIONS-EXPENSES INCURRED IN THE PURSUIT OF BUSINESS-COMMUTER EXPENSE

Authors

Joseph R. Brookshire S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

The taxpayer, a lawyer, had resided in Jackson, Mississippi for approximately thirty-five years, and had maintained a law office there for more than twenty years. In 1927 he accepted a position as general solicitor for a railroad whose main office was in Mobile, Alabama. Although the taxpayer's work was devoted entirely to the railroad's business, he refused to abandon his long established connections in Jackson because his position was yearly, appointive, and therefore uncertain. Arrangements were made with the railroad whereby the taxpayer allocated his time between the two cities, but also bore the traveling expenses between, and the living expenses in, both cities. While the taxpayer's main post of business was in Mobile, he worked most of the time in Jackson during the tax years in question, 1939 and 1940. He took deductions for the expenses incurred in making seventy-three trips between the cities, and also for the living expenses while in Mobile. The circuit court reversed the Tax Court's disallowance of the deductions. Certiorari was granted because of a conflict in lower court decisions as to the meaning of the word "home." Held, whether or not the expenses were incurred while away from home, they were not incurred in the pursuit of business, and therefore were not deductible from gross income under Section 23 (a) (1) (A) of the Internal Revenue Code. Commissioner v. Flowers, (U.S. 1946) 66 S.Ct. 250.

Recommended Citation

Joseph R. Brookshire S.Ed., TAXATION-INCOME TAX-DEDUCTIONS-EXPENSES INCURRED IN THE PURSUIT OF BUSINESS-COMMUTER EXPENSE, 44 Mich. L. Rev. 882 (1946).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol44/iss5/24