Shore v. Commissioner

1990 T.C. Memo. 272, 59 T.C.M. 762, 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 290
United States Tax Court·Decided May 31, 1990·No. Docket No. 31001-88·Unpublished

Opinion

JAMES R. SHORE, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Shore v. Commissioner
Docket No. 31001-88
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1990-272; 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 290; 59 T.C.M. (CCH) 762; T.C.M. (RIA) 90272;
May 31, 1990, Filed
*290

Decision will be entered under Rule 155.

James R. Shore, pro se.
Mark I. Siegel, for the respondent.
HAMBLEN, Judge.

HAMBLEN

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

Respondent, in his notice of deficiency issued on September 14, 1988, determined the following deficiencies in, and additions to, petitioner's 1984 and 1985 Federal income tax:

SectionSectionSection
YearDeficiency6653(a)(1) 16653(a)(2)6661
1984$ 8,045.24$ 402.26 *$ 2,011.31
1985$ 8,551.46$ 427.57 *$ 2,137.87

The deficiencies determined by respondent are due in large part to the disallowance of business expenses attributable to petitioner in 1984 and 1985. After concessions, the issues for our decision are (1) whether petitioner was "away from home" within the meaning of section 162(a)(2) and therefore entitled to deductions for travel expenses (including meals, lodging, and automobile expenses) as claimed on his 1984 *291and 1985 tax returns; (2) whether petitioner is entitled to claim a rental deduction of $ 3,000 for storage of documents in 1984 and 1985 respectively; (3) whether petitioner is liable for additions to tax due to negligence under section 6653(a)(1) and (2); and (4) whether petitioner is liable for additions to tax under 6661 for substantial understatement of his income tax for the years 1984 and 1985.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly. The stipulation of facts and accompanying exhibits are incorporated herein by this reference. At the time the petition was filed in this case and during the years in issue petitioner James R. Shore resided in Belding, Michigan (hereinafter Belding), located approximately 150 miles from Detroit, Michigan (hereinafter Detroit).

Petitioner first moved to Belding as a child in 1949 when his parents bought the Gambles dime store. After finishing high school in Belding, he joined the military in 1954 and moved out of town. In approximately 1969, petitioner moved back to Belding. While continuing to reside in Belding, he worked for one year as a draftsman in Greenville, Michigan; for ten years as a furniture *292designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and for six years as project engineer with an industrial equipment company in Belding. Petitioner then became a self-employed industrial designer drawing his clients from Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Belding. In 1982, petitioner began working steadily as a freelance automotive designer in the greater Detroit metropolitan area exclusively. Although Belding is 150 miles away from Detroit, petitioner continued to maintain his residence in Belding. He did, however, rent an apartment in Detroit for his use on weekdays. He drove back to Belding nearly every weekend.

As an automotive designer, petitioner worked for a series of contract companies who hired him to design a wide range of complex vehicle parts for well-known car manufacturers including Cadillac, Ford, and Isuzu. By 1984, petitioner was a skilled designer having had experience designing such things as exhaust and fresh air cooling systems, fuel filters, power steering mechanisms, and the hydraulics of a military tank. It is customary for freelance automotive designers to be laid off when their particular design projects are completed. The automobile design assignments petitioner worked *293on from June 1982 to December 1985 generally lasted between 2 to 20 months. His employment history since 1982 is shown as follows.

EmployerBeginningEndWages
Pioneer Engineering,
Warren, MI **June 1982Nov. 1983$ 67,882
Engineering Tech,
Troy, MI Nov. 1983Jan. 1984$ 14,280
Modern Engineering,
Troy, MI

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

Shore v. Commissioner, 1990 T.C. Memo. 272, 59 T.C.M. 762, 1990 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 290 (tax 1990).

1990 T.C. Memo. 272 (Shore v. Commissioner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Commissioner v. Flowers
326 U.S. 465 (Supreme Court, 1946)
Peurifoy v. Commissioner
358 U.S. 59 (Supreme Court, 1958)
Whitaker v. Commissioner
24 T.C. 750 (U.S. Tax Court, 1955)
Michaels v. Commissioner
53 T.C. 269 (U.S. Tax Court, 1969)
Tucker v. Commissioner
55 T.C. 783 (U.S. Tax Court, 1971)
Enoch v. Commissioner
57 T.C. 781 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)
Bixby v. Commissioner
58 T.C. 757 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)
Norwood v. Commissioner
66 T.C. 467 (U.S. Tax Court, 1976)
Bochner v. Commissioner
67 T.C. 824 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Neely v. Commissioner
85 T.C. No. 56 (U.S. Tax Court, 1985)
Schirmer v. Commissioner
89 T.C. No. 24 (U.S. Tax Court, 1987)
Antonides v. Commissioner
91 T.C. No. 45 (U.S. Tax Court, 1988)
Soliman v. Commissioner
94 T.C. No. 3 (U.S. Tax Court, 1990)