Legal Opinion · Dissent

Brown v. Commissioner

United States Tax Court

Decided October 24, 1979No. Docket Nos. 8592-77, 11685-77Published

In order to provide a better education for her son in a safer environment, and in order to free herself to seek and hold gainful employment, petitioner enrolled her 13-year old son in boarding school. She considered herself unable to work while her son remained in public school due to constantly arising problems (teacher strikes, classroom disorders, and gang fights) at the public school.

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In order to provide a better education for her son in a safer environment, and in order to free herself to seek and hold gainful employment, petitioner enrolled her 13-year old son in boarding school. She considered herself unable to work while her son remained in public school due to constantly arising problems (teacher strikes, classroom disorders, and gang fights) at the public school. Held, such portion of the boarding school costs as is allocable to child care rather than to education was deductible for 1974 and 1975 under sec. 214(b)(2), I.R.C. 1954, as expenses for child care incurred…

1DissentTannenwald, J.

The difficulties encountered by Albert at Wagner suggest that the petitioner may have first decided to remove him from that school and to place him in a school like Valley Forge and that her work was undertaken in order to implement that purpose. If such were the case, I do not think that the statutory test of “expenses * * * incurred to enable the taxpayer to be gainfully employed” (see sec. 214(b)(2)) would be met. There is no indication in the findings of fact or the opinion of the majority as to how this essentially factual question would be resolved — a task presumably for the trier of…

2Cases cited4 opinions

  1. Fausner v. CommissionerSupreme Court of the United States · 1973
  2. Reese v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1966
  3. Jungreis v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1970
  4. Limpert v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1961

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