Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Deductibility of Transportation Expenses Between Two Places of Current Employment

Authors

George E. Ewing S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Petitioner was employed as a high school principal by the city of Attleboro, Massachusetts, where he lived. He was also employed as an accounting instructor by Boston University, thirty-seven miles distant, two evenings a week for thirty-two weeks during the taxable year. He used his personal automobile to travel between the two cities and did not remain overnight in Boston. Neither employer expressly required him to incur any transportation expenses in connection with his teaching duties and there was no arrangement for reimbursement of transportation costs. The Tax Court affirmed the Commissioner's disallowance-- of a deduction for the automobile expenses incurred in traveling between the two cities which petitioner had taken to arrive at his adjusted gross income before employing the standard deduction. On appeal, held, reversed. The Tax Court erred in its holding that the expenses were not incurred in connection with the performance of services by petitioner as an employee. Further, the taxpayer was "away from home" within the statutory meaning when he traveled to his evening teaching job. Chandler v. Commissioner, (1st Cir. 1955) 226 F. (2d) 467.

Recommended Citation

George E. Ewing S.Ed., Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Deductibility of Transportation Expenses Between Two Places of Current Employment, 54 Mich. L. Rev. 717 (1956).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol54/iss5/17