Wilbert v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

The question presented by this appeal is whether an employee who uses “bumping” rights to avoid or postpone losing his job can deduct the living expenses that he incurs when he finds himself working far from home as a result of exercising those rights. The Tax Court ruled against the taxpayer, T.C. Memo 2007-152, 2007 WL 1713379, assessing a deficiency of $4,380 in his income tax payments for 2003, and he appeals. This is one of a number of largely identical cases in the Tax Court, see, e.g., Wasik v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2007-148, 2007 WL 1702689; Stephens v.…