02/12/2024
Incomplete records lose vehicle expense and
depreciation deductions.
The case: P had several businesses as
proprietorships, for which he took expense
deductions for his car and truck. He also took
depreciation deductions for both as well as for other
assets. The IRS denied a number of deductions, so P
went to court.
Held: For the IRS. In the records supporting the
deductions, the court said the estimated miles
driven were not contemporaneous with the
expenditures and did not include the date and
business purpose of miles driven. So, the records
did not meet the minimum standard to support
vehicle deductions.
Likewise, the records to support depreciation
deductions for different assets were incomplete,
often not specific enough to identify the asset
depreciated, and did not establish that the
property was used specifically for business and not
nonbusiness purposes. The records also failed to
establish the property’s depreciable basis, recovery
period (number of years of depreciation allowed),
and previously taken depreciation. Because he did
not prove any of these elements, no depreciation
deductions were allowed. [Polete v. Commissioner, T.C.
Summ. Op. 2023-25]