Seibold v. Commissioner

31 T.C. 1017, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 235
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 24, 1959
DocketDocket No. 61995
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 31 T.C. 1017 (Seibold 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
Seibold v. Commissioner, 31 T.C. 1017, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 235 (tax 1959).

Opinion

Mulroney, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in the income tax of petitioners for 1952 in the sum of $1,051.62 and additions thereto under section 294 (d) (1) (A) and (d) (2), I. R. C. 1939, in the amounts of $56.92 and $34.16, respectively.

The question presented is whether petitioners were entitled, under the provisions of section 23 (a) (1) (A), I. R. C. 1939, to a deduction of $3,224.25 in the year 1952, as educational expenses.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

Some of the facts were stipulated and they are found accordingly. Petitioners, Richard and Melba Y. Seibold, are husband and wife who reside in Buffalo, New York. They are both music teachers in the public schools of Buffalo and they filed their joint income tax return for the year 1952 with the district director of internal revenue at Buffalo.

Schoolteachers in New York State are licensed and governed by the “Regulations of the Commissioner of Education of the State of New York.” These regulations make provisions for the educational requirements necessary to secure permanent certificates, valid for teaching common branch subjects and certificates valid for teaching special subjects and they define the teaching of music as a special subject. They also provide for what is called “In-service study and training” which means that the holder of a permanent certificate for teaching a special subject “shall during each successive ten-year period from date of issuance complete six semester hours in approved courses or the equivalent in approved and appropriate professional activity such as membership in study groups for professional and cultural improvement, travel, educational research, authorship, cooperating critic and demonstration teaching, occupational experience, leadership in extra school activities, leadership in professional associations and leadership in appropriate community activities.”

Richard was the holder of a permanent certificate, granted in 1950, qualifying him to teach a special subject, and during 1952 he was head of the music department and taught music courses at the Cleveland High School in Buffalo.

Melba was the holder of a certificate granted sometime prior to 1942, qualifying her to teach common branch subjects. Under the regulations the validity of this certificate could be extended by the Commissioner of Education, “to include the teaching of a special subject on evidence that the holder thereof has completed an additional 45 semester hours in approved technical and professional courses related to the field, for which the extension of validity is to be granted.”

In the year 1942 Melba was requested by the school district to teach a music course in the Cleveland Hill School. She accepted and she continued to teach music at this school every year from 1942 to 1951 by virtue of a temporary certificate granted to her by the school board and the Department of Education of the State of New York, which was renewed annually. During all of these years Melba did not have the required credits to enable her to secure a permanent certificate to teach a special subject such as music, though she did secure some additional credits in 1944 and 1945. In 1951 Melba was notified, either by the school board or the State Department of Education, that her temporary certificate would not be renewed again.

In the summer of 1952 petitioners took a European travel tour organized by the Swiss Educational Service of New York City at a cost of $1,245 each. The detailed itinerary of this trip starts with the flight from Idlewild Airport in New York on June 23 and the arrival in Paris, France, the next day. . It provided for about a 2-week stay in France with many visits to places of historical interest in Paris, Versailles, Tours, Vichy, Grenoble, Nice, and Monte Carlo. Starting with July 4, it provided for about a 12-day stay in Italy with visits to places of historical interest in Genoa, Florence, Eome, Venice, and Milano, with sometimes a free day for shopping in some of the cities. The itinerary provided for arrival in Switzerland about July 18 with visits in Sierre, and sightseeing tours in Geneva and registration in the University of Geneva on July 21 for a 2 weeks’ course, with several weekend excursions to places of interest around Geneva. Next it provided for a train trip back to Paris and arrival there on August 18 and a sightseeing tour that day and the next day to be a “[f]ree day in Paris for shopping and packing.” The next trip was to London via train to Calais, France, and channel boat to Dover, and thence by train to London with arrival in London on August 21 and sightseeing tours in London on that day. August 22 was an excursion to Oxford and Stratford on Avon and August 23 was a “[f]ree day in London for shopping and packing.” The itinerary provided for the flight from London on August 24 and arrival back at Idlewild Airport in New York on August 25.

The $1,245 cost of the entire trip included all transportation, hotel accommodations, meals, and the tuition for the 2-weeks’ course at Geneva University. Richard did not attend the University but, upon his return, he was given 2 credits toward the inservice requirement after submitting a detailed report of the places visited and his idea of the benefits he derived from the trip. Melba did attend the 2 weeks’ course at Geneva and she was given 6 hours’ credit toward the requirement necessary to validate her common branch certificate for the teaching of a special subject such as music. Also in 1952 Melba attended New York University where she earned 24 credits and Columbia University, where she earned 2 credits, and after receiving all of these credits she received her permanent certificate to teach music and thereafter did teach music in the same school and at the same salary she had previously taught under the temporary certificate.

It was stipulated Melba’s tuition at New York and Columbia Universities and cost of her lodging and meals while attending the universities, were in the total sum of $734.25.

OPINION.

The first question is whether the $1,245 expended by Richard for the European tour in 1952 is deductible as an ordinary and necessary expense incurred in the pursuit of his trade or business under the provisions of section 23 (a) (1) (A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939.1

Section 24 (a) (1) provides that in computing net income “no deduction shall in any case be allowed in respect of * * * Personal, living, or family expenses” except certain medical expenses not applicable here. Section 23 (a) (1) (A) provides there shall be allowed as deductions “[a]ll the ordinary and necessary expenses paid * * * in carrying on any trade or business.”

Petitioners had the burden of showing the deductions were not in respect of personal or family expenses and that they were both ordinary and necessary in carrying on their business as teachers. In deciding whether the statutory necessities for a deduction have been complied with, we need only concern ourselves with whether the expenses were both ordinary and necessary in carrying on the taxpayer’s trade or business. If they were, the deduction follows. If the expenses were not ordinary and necessary in carrying on the taxpayer’s trade or business, then presumably they were personal, or, in any event, not deductible. Manoel Cardozo, 17 T. C. 3. Hill v. Commissioner, 181 F. 2d 906, reversing 13 T. C.

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Seibold v. Commissioner
31 T.C. 1017 (U.S. Tax Court, 1959)

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Bluebook (online)
31 T.C. 1017, 1959 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seibold-v-commissioner-tax-1959.