Newi v. CIR, 58
| Decision Date | 21 October 1970 |
| Docket Number | Docket 34187.,No. 58,58 |
| Citation | 432 F.2d 998 |
| Parties | George H. and Sarah NEWI, Petitioners-Appellees, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Johnnie M. Walters, Asst. Atty. Gen., Washington, D. C. (Lee A. Jackson, Thomas L. Stapleton, and Kenneth L. Gross, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., on the brief), for appellant.
Gabriel T. Pap, New York City, for petitioners-appellees.
Before MOORE, SMITH and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue (the Commissioner) appeals from that portion of the decision of the Tax Court which holds that "the petitioners were entitled to an ordinary and necessary business expense deduction for a portion of the rent, light and cleaning of their apartment." The petitioners below, George H. Newi (hereinafter referred to as the Taxpayer) and Sarah Newi, are husband and wife. George H. Newi, during the year in question 1964, for which a joint return was filed, was "an outside salesman of television time for the American Broadcasting Company television network (hereinafter referred to as `ABC')."* His work consisted largely of selling television time on ABC through the many advertising agencies located in New York City. Since the only issue on this appeal is the Tax Court's allowance as a business expense of a portion of the Taxpayer's apartment rental for a room (a den-study) used by him in connection with his business, the statement of facts will be restricted to this subject. This item, combined with other allowances and disallowances made by the Tax Court, resulted in a judgment of $544.63 against the Taxpayer instead of the $901.22 deficiency assessed by the Commissioner, a difference of $356.59. Under these circumstances, it is fair to assume that the Commissioner feels that some important principle of precedential value other than the $356.59 is involved. At the outset, we would disabuse the Commissioner of any such apprehension because each of these business expense cases should be decided on the merits of the particular facts presented. The facts, as found by the Tax Court, are for all practical purposes not in dispute.
For six months of 1964, the Taxpayer lived in a three-room apartment at 200 East 84th Street, Manhattan. The rent was $260 a month. Off the living room was an "L"-shaped room so partitioned with a separate door that it formed a den or study in which the Taxpayer for an average of three hours a night carried on his work. As the Tax Court found, there he was "reviewing his notes on the day's selling activities, studying various research materials and ratings, making his plans for the next day's work, and viewing the television advertisements of ABC and its competitor networks." The "study was not used by Taxpayer or his wife for personal entertaining or personal television viewing." With the advent of a child, the Taxpayer moved into a four-room apartment in the same building, the rent being $300 a month. There the same physical lay-out obtained, a den off the living room enclosed by partitions and a door.
The Commissioner makes much of the fact that ABC did not require or request the Taxpayer to set aside a portion of his apartment for office work and that the ABC building was open in the evening with office...
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Soliman v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue
...necessary‘ home office expense pursuant to section 162(a) if the expense was ‘appropriate and helpful.‘ See, e.g., Newi v. Commissioner, 432 F.2d 998, 1000 (2d Cir. 1970), affg. a Memorandum Opinion of this Court. Congress curtailed this liberal allowance of home office expense deductions b......
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Crawford v. Commissioner
...if they were found to be "appropriate and helpful" to the taxpayer's business. See Newi v. Commissioner [70-2 USTC ¶ 9669], 432 F.2d 998, 1000 (2d Cir. 1970), affg. [Dec. 29,641(M)] T.C. Memo. 1969-131. The "appropriate and helpful" standard was considered to be too lenient and to allow the......
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Sharon v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue , Docket Nos. 6189-71
...convenience, comfort, or economy. His spare bedroom was not better suited for doing his office work. Compare Newi v. Commissioner, 432 F.2d 998, 1000 (2d Cir. 1970), affg. a Memorandum Opinion of this Court; and Clarence Peiss, 40 T.C. 78 (1963). The petitioner's employer did not require or......
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Drucker v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue , Docket No. 11463-79.
...revg. 60 T.C. 820 (1973), and Sharon v. Commissioner, 66 T.C. 515 (1976), affd. 591 F.2d 1273 (9th Cir. 1978), with Newi v. Commissioner, 432 F.2d 998 (2d Cir. 1970), affg. a Memorandum Opinion of this Court. However, Congress disavowed that subjective case-by-case analysis in the enactment......
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Supreme Court develops new test for home office deductions.
...arrangements a deduction for legitimate home office expenses), rev'g and rem'g 79 TC 605 (1982). (3) Soliman, id. (4) George H. Newi, 432 F2d 998 (2d Cir. 1970)(26 AFTR2d 70-5696, 70-2 USTC [paragraph] 9669), aff'g TC Memo 1969-131. (5) The Tax Court relied on the Supreme Court decision in ......