Cochran v. Commissioner

1973 T.C. Memo. 104, 32 T.C.M. 466, 1973 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 183
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedApril 30, 1973
DocketDocket No. 4749-71.
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1973 T.C. Memo. 104 (Cochran v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cochran v. Commissioner, 1973 T.C. Memo. 104, 32 T.C.M. 466, 1973 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 183 (tax 1973).

Opinion

CAROL J. COCHRAN, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Cochran v. Commissioner
Docket No. 4749-71.
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1973-104; 1973 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 183; 32 T.C.M. (CCH) 466; T.C.M. (RIA) 73104;
April 30, 1973, Filed

*183 Held, the expenses incurred by a second-grade teacher on a trip around the world are not deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses.

Carol J. Cochran, pro se.
Harry Morton Asch and William E. Saul, for the respondent.

SIMPSON

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

SIMPSON, Judge:

The respondent determined a deficiency of $1,012.87 in the petitioner's Federal income tax for 1967. The only issue for decision is whether the 2 expenses incurred by the petitioner, a teacher of second grade, on an around-the-world trip constitute ordinary and necessary business expenses.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated, and those facts are so found.

The petitioner, Carol J. Cochran, maintained her legal*184 residence in Palo Alto, California, at the time her petition was filed in this case. She filed her 1967 individual Federal income tax return with the internal revenue service center, Ogden, Utah.

In 1952, the petitioner graduated from the University of California with a bachelor of arts degree in history, and in 1953, she became an accredited teacher, certified by the State of California as an elementary school teacher for kindergarten through eighth grade. After teaching second and third grade for 4 years, the petitioner, in 1957, accepted a teaching position with the Palo Alto Unified School District (the school district) and taught second, third, and fourth grade until 1964, when she began to teach only second grade.

In February 1966, the petitioner applied to the school district for a sabbatical leave to tour the world. 3 On her application, she listed the countries which she planned to visit during the period from September 1966 through June or July 1967 and stated that "[where] it is possible I intend to visit schools and observe classes as well as take pictures for the school district." The petitioner's application was voluntary on her part and not required by the*185 school district or any law or regulation. The application was approved.

In 1966, the requirements of the school district concerning sabbatical leave provided that such leave was ""for the purpose of permitting study or travel * * * which will benefit the schools and the pupils of the district."" A teacher could request sabbatical leave only after 7 years of continuous service, and the compensation for such leave was one-half of the teacher's basic salary. A teacher on sabbatical leave for travel was required to remain in travel status for at least 4-1/2 months for each semester of leave granted and, within 60 days after the conclusion of his trip, to file with the school district a written report of not less than 2,500 words "setting forth the teacher's reactions to the trip and a statement of the benefits received from it." As the result of traveling, a teacher could earn units which are utilized in determining salary increments above the base scale and in determining 4 retirement benefits. However, a teacher could not earn more than 18 such units as the result of travel, and since the petitioner had already received 18 units for travel across the United States, in South America, *186 and in Africa, she was allowed no units for her trip around the world.

On June 17, 1966, the petitioner signed a sabbatical agreement which provided that she would receive a salary of $6,245.00 during her sabbatical leave for the 1966-1967 school year. In consideration of such salary, the petitioner agreed to take her trip and to return to the school district "upon expiration of the sabbatical leave of absence and to render two years service therein." The grade which the petitioner was to teach upon her return was not specified, and the petitioner did not know what grade she would teach on her return. On September 21, 1966, the coordinator of the Instructional Materials Center of the school district gave the petitioner a letter of introduction to present on her travels. The Instructional Materials Center is a repository for supplementary texts and instructional materials to support the school district's instructional programs.

The petitioner began her trip on September 25, 1966, with an approximately 18-day cruise to New Zealand, where 5 she stayed for 25 days. She then traveled to Australia, where she stayed for 20 days before going on to Asia. While in Asia, the petitioner*187 visited Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Burma, India, Nepal, Ceylon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey. She also visited Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, Austria, Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Canada before arriving home on August 5, 1967. The petitioner's trip was not part of a group tour.

During her trip, the petitioner maintained an extensive diary which discussed the places she visited, various meals she ate, the entertainment and dancing which she enjoyed, the items which she purchased, and the people, mostly other travelers, whom she met. There were no apparent references in such diary to any teaching methods which she learned on her trip. The diary did contain references to the petitioner's having a television interview and a newspaper interview in New Zealand, in which she spoke about California schools, and to her visiting schools during part of 2 days in New Zealand and during part of 2 other days in Australia. The visits to the schools in New Zealand and Australia were the only school visits which the petitioner had planned before taking her trip. On the remainder of the trip, the petitioner, *188 6 according to her diary, visited the grounds and buildings of 7 schools and universities, and passed by the grounds and buildings of 6 others.

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Related

Carroll v. Commissioner
51 T.C. 213 (U.S. Tax Court, 1968)
Marlin v. Commissioner
54 T.C. 560 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Krist v. Commissioner
1972 T.C. Memo. 100 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
1973 T.C. Memo. 104, 32 T.C.M. 466, 1973 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cochran-v-commissioner-tax-1973.