West v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
On their 1980 amended Federal income tax return, petitioners claimed a loss with respect to a purported investment in a motion picture. In fact, no investment was made by petitioners until December of 1981, and the motion picture was not produced until 1982. Held, petitioners did not invest in the motion picture with an actual and honest objective of making a profit and petitioners are not entitled to deductions for depreciation with respect to the motion picture.
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On their 1980 amended Federal income tax return, petitioners claimed a loss with respect to a purported investment in a motion picture. In fact, no investment was made by petitioners until December of 1981, and the motion picture was not produced until 1982. Held, petitioners did not invest in the motion picture with an actual and honest objective of making a profit and petitioners are not entitled to deductions for depreciation with respect to the motion picture. Held, further, petitioners are not entitled to a theft loss deduction under sec. 165, I.R.C. of 1954, with respect to the $ 11,400…
1Opinion of the Court
SWIFT, Judge:
In a statutory notice of deficiency dated April 5, 1984, respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners’ Federal income tax liabilities and additions to tax as follows:
Additions to tax
Years Deficiencies sec. 6659
1977 $3,591
1978 1,822
1979 5,823
1981 9,642 $2,893
1982 4,798 1,439
After concessions, the issues for decision are: (1) Whether petitioners are entitled to deduct depreciation and to claim an investment tax credit with respect to the purchase of a single print of a motion picture; (2) whether, in the alternative, petitioners are entitled to deduct the out-of-pocket costs…
2Cases cited24 opinions
- Neely v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1985
- Golanty v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1979
- Jasionowski v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1976
- E.A. Brannen and Frances K. Brannen v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · 1984
- Brannen v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1982
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3Cited by30 opinions
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- Robert F. Goeller and Jeanette M. Goeller v. United StatesUnited States Court of Federal Claims · 2013
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