Thomas C. Cadwallader and Judy C. Douglas v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

The question presented by this appeal from a decision by the Tax Court is whether Thomas Cadwallader, a professor of psychology at Indiana State University, is entitled to a deduction from income tax for the expense of maintaining an office in his home. Cadwallader has the exclusive use of two offices in the psychology department, one 11 feet by 13 feet and the other 12 by 12, plus a 4 by 7 storage room. But he does most of his research and writing in his home office. The statute, so far as relevant here, allows an employee to take a home office deduction only if the…