DocketNumber: Docket No. 6350-76.
Citation Numbers: 37 T.C.M. 252, 1978 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 469, 1978 T.C. Memo. 48
Filed Date: 1/31/1978
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 11/21/2020
In 1973 petitioners (1) paid the Federal excise tax on an automobile used solely for their personal purposes, (2) paid life and casualty, fire and automobile insurance premiums and (3) contributed the required amounts to their retirement plans--the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System. The retirement plans are comparable in all respects to the civil service retirement system applicable to Federal employees.
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MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION
STERRETT,
(1) Whether petitioners are entitled to a deduction for Federal excise taxes purportedly paid in 1973.
(2) Whether petitioners are entitled to deductions for life and casualty, fire and car insurance premiums purportedly paid in 1973.
(3) Whether petitioners are entitled to deductions for mandatory retirement payments made in 1973 to the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts, together with the exhibits attached thereto, are incorporated herein by this reference.
Petitioners, Frank and Romana Paal, husband and wife, resided in Long Beach, California at the time the petition herein was filed. They timely filed a joint Federal income tax return for the taxable year 1973. 1
Petitioners on their 1973 return deducted $77 attributable to a payment to the Department of Justice and $130 attributable to an excise tax payment on an automobile used solely for personal purposes. Respondent in his notice of deficiency, dated *471 April 13, 1976, disallowed these deductions. Petitioners have stipulated that they are not entitled to deduct the $77 payment.
Petitioners on their 1973 return deducted $550 for life and casualty, fire and automobile insurance premiums allegedly paid in 1973. Although the record shows that in 1973 they paid $346 to California Casualty, petitioners are unable to substantiate the remaining amount.
In 1973 Frank Paal was a full-time teacher at the State University at Long Beach, California and a member of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Similarly Romana Paal in 1973 was a full-time teacher at the Long Beach Community College and was a member of the California State Teachers' Retirement System. Petitioners are required to participate in their retirement plans and, upon termination of their employment prior to retirement, they would be entitled to full refund of their contributions plus interest thereon. Petitioners' respective pension upon retirement is not directly attributable to their gross wages in any one year.
OPINION
Turning next to the second issue herein, petitioners submit that prior to 1970 a casualty loss, under
Furthermore petitioners are not entitled to deductions for amounts contributed to their retirement plans. The retirement plans in issue are comparable in all respects to the civil service retirement system applicable to Federal employees.
1. The record does not indicate where the return was filed.↩
2.
(a) General Rule.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following taxes shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year within which paid or accrued:
(1) State and local, and foreign, real property taxes.
(2) State and local personal property taxes.
(3) State and local, and foreign, income, war profits, and excess profits taxes.
(4) State and local general sales taxes.
(5) State and local taxes on the sale of gasoline, diesel fuel, and other motor fuels.
In addition, there shall be allowed as a deduction State and local, and foreign, taxes not described in the preceding sentence which are paid or accrued within the taxable year in carrying on a trade or business or an activity described in section 212 (relating to expenses for production of income).↩
3. Public Law 88-272, section 208(a), 88th Cong. 1964. ↩
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(c) Limitation on Losses of Individuals.--In the case of an individual, the deduction under subsection (a) shall be limited to--
(1) losses incurred in a trade or business;
(2) losses incurred in any transaction entered into for profit, though not connected with a trade or business; and
(3) losses of property not connected with a trade or business, if such losses arise from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty, or from theft. A loss described in this paragraph shall be allowed only to the extent that the amount of loss to such individual arising from each casualty, or from each theft, exceeds $100. * * *
5. See also our discussion in
6. We note that petitioners' contention that we should retroactively apply the individual retirement account provisions (secs. 408, 219 et al.) to allow said deduction is also without merit. Not only are the I.R.A. provisions inapplicable for the years in issue but sec. 219(b)(2)(A)(iv). denies a deduction to employees covered by a state or governmental agency plan.