Leon E. Daniels & Margaret I. Daniels v. Commissioner

2014 T.C. Summary Opinion 16
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 24, 2014
Docket5828-12S
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2014 T.C. Summary Opinion 16 (Leon E. Daniels & Margaret I. Daniels 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
Leon E. Daniels & Margaret I. Daniels v. Commissioner, 2014 T.C. Summary Opinion 16 (tax 2014).

Opinion

PURSUANT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE SECTION 7463(b),THIS OPINION MAY NOT BE TREATED AS PRECEDENT FOR ANY OTHER CASE. T.C. Summary Opinion 2014-16

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

LEON E. DANIELS AND MARGARET I. DANIELS, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 5828-12S. Filed February 24, 2014.

Leon E. Daniels and Margaret I. Daniels, pro sese.

Alicia H. Eyler and Julie L. Payne, for respondent.

SUMMARY OPINION

MARVEL, Judge: This case was heard pursuant to the provisions of section

74631 of the Internal Revenue Code in effect when the petition was filed.

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the years at issue, and all Rule references are to the (continued...) -2-

Pursuant to section 7463(b), the decision to be entered is not reviewable by any

other court, and this opinion shall not be treated as precedent for any other case.

Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners’ Federal income tax,

additions to tax under section 6651(a)(1), and accuracy-related penalties under

section 6662(a) as follows:

Addition to tax Penalty Year Deficiency sec. 6651(a)(1) sec. 6662(a)

2005 $9,297 $2,472 $1,859 2006 11,506 2,992 2,301 2007 4,384 739 877 2008 396 -0- 79 2009 941 -0- 188

After concessions, the issues for decision are: (1) whether petitioners may deduct,

under section 162, expenses related to their use of four vehicles in 2005 and 2006;

and (2) whether petitioners are entitled to bases in collectible gold coins they sold

in 2007 and 2008 in excess of the amounts respondent allowed.2

1 (...continued) Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure. All monetary amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar. 2 The parties stipulated or conceded the following adjustments to petitioners’ Schedules C, Profit or Loss From Business: (1) respondent properly increased petitioners’ gross receipts by $4,587, $1,317, $1,755, and $1,450 for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively, and properly reduced petitioners’ gross receipts by $585 for 2009; (2) respondent properly disallowed a deduction for cost of goods (continued...) -3-

2 (...continued) sold of $8,391 for 2005 and properly increased petitioners’ expense deductions by $6,500 for cost of goods sold for 2008; (3) petitioners’ deduction for car and truck expenses should be increased by $562 for 2007; (4) respondent properly decreased petitioners’ deduction for car and truck expenses by $6,240 for 2009; (5) petitioners are entitled to deduct 100% of their expenses related to the use of their 1965 Ford pickup truck for 2005 and 2006; (6) respondent properly disallowed petitioners’ deduction for business use of their home of $150 for 2005 and properly increased petitioners’ deductions for business use of their home by $1,007 and $2,254 for 2008 and 2009, respectively; (7) respondent properly disallowed deductions for other expenses of $1,500, $11,010, and $6,528 for 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively; (8) respondent properly disallowed petitioners’ deduction for interest expense of $2,012 for 2005 and properly increased petitioners’ deductions for interest expense by $669 and $340 for 2008 and 2009, respectively; (9) respondent properly disallowed a deduction for repairs and maintenance of $5,561 for 2007; (10) respondent properly disallowed deductions for depreciation and sec. 179 expenses of $5,573, $288, $8,664, and $2,690 for 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively; (11) petitioners’ travel expense deduction for 2005 should be allowed; and (12) respondent properly disallowed petitioners’ travel expense deduction of $6,855 for 2007.

The parties also stipulated that: (1) petitioners’ itemized deductions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, are properly decreased by $1,719 for 2005 and properly increased by $10,662, $17,415, $12,667, and $4,406 for 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively; (2) petitioners received $1,294 of unreported taxable interest in 2006; (3) petitioners are liable for self-employment tax on the increase in their self-employment income and are entitled to deduct from their gross income one-half of their self-employment tax liability for each year; (4) petitioners are liable for the additions to tax under sec. 6651(a)(1) for 2005, 2006, and 2007; and (5) petitioners are liable for the accuracy-related penalty under sec. 6662(a) for the years at issue to the extent of petitioners’ unreported capital gains from the sale of coins and petitioners’ disallowed deductions on Schedule C for car and truck expenses for 2005 and 2006. -4-

Background

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulations of

facts are incorporated herein by this reference. Petitioners resided in the State of

Washington when they petitioned this Court.

I. Vehicle Expenses

During the years at issue petitioners owned and operated A1 Carpet

Cleaning, an unincorporated business. A1 Carpet Cleaning performed carpet and

upholstery cleaning, water damage restoration, and fire damage restoration.

Petitioners owned nine vehicles and used these vehicles to varying degrees

in connection with A1 Carpet Cleaning. These vehicles were a 1988 Jeep (Jeep), a

1986 Cadillac (Cadillac), a 1975 Chevrolet Nova (Nova), a 1994 Lincoln

Continental (Lincoln), four vans, and a 1965 Ford pickup truck.3 Petitioners used

the Jeep, the Cadillac, the Nova, and the Lincoln (collectively, four vehicles) for

both personal and business purposes during the years at issue. They did not,

however, keep mileage logs to document the business use of the four vehicles or

keep receipts for vehicle expenses.

3 Expenses related to the four vans and Ford pickup truck are not in dispute. -5-

II. Collectible Coin Sales

Petitioners collect and sell coins. During 2007 and 2008 they sold both

silver and gold coins but did not maintain a log or registry to document their coin

purchases and sales. Petitioners realized proceeds of $81,216 and $181,944 from

the sale of coins in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

III. Petitioners’ Tax Reporting and the Notice of Deficiency

Petitioners reported their income and expenses from A1 Carpet Cleaning on

Schedules C attached to their Forms 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for

2005 through 2009. They reported actual car and truck expenses for the use of the

nine vehicles of $20,882 and $24,462 in 2005 and 2006, respectively, and they

deducted those expenses on the Schedules C for those years.

Petitioners did not provide their return preparer with original receipts4 to

support the vehicle expenses reported on the Schedules C. Instead, they provided

their return preparer with a handwritten sheet summarizing their vehicle expenses

and the percentage of business use for each vehicle. Petitioners estimated that

they used the four vehicles for business purposes 75% of the time and,

4 Petitioners’ return preparer testified that the only receipts that petitioners provided were credit card receipts for some of the vehicle expenses reported on petitioners’ returns. -6-

accordingly, claimed deductions for car and truck expenses on Schedule C equal

to 75% of the total expenses for these vehicles for each year at issue.

Petitioners did not report gains from their coin sales on their Form 1040 for

2007 or 2008. During the examination petitioners provided respondent with

records to substantiate their bases in some of the coins sold during these years.

Respondent allowed petitioners a basis of 50% of the sale price for the remainder

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Welch v. Helvering
290 U.S. 111 (Supreme Court, 1933)
Deputy, Administratrix v. Du Pont
308 U.S. 488 (Supreme Court, 1940)
Commissioner v. Heininger
320 U.S. 467 (Supreme Court, 1943)
Indopco, Inc. v. Commissioner
503 U.S. 79 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Cohan v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
39 F.2d 540 (Second Circuit, 1930)
Daniels v. Comm'r
2014 T.C. Summary Opinion 16 (U.S. Tax Court, 2014)
American Stores Co. v. Commissioner
114 T.C. No. 27 (U.S. Tax Court, 2000)
HIGBEE v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
116 T.C. No. 28 (U.S. Tax Court, 2001)
Sanford v. Commissioner
50 T.C. 823 (U.S. Tax Court, 1968)
Vanicek v. Commissioner
85 T.C. No. 43 (U.S. Tax Court, 1985)
Niedringhaus v. Commissioner
99 T.C. No. 11 (U.S. Tax Court, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 T.C. Summary Opinion 16, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leon-e-daniels-margaret-i-daniels-v-commissioner-tax-2014.