Source: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2010/apr/20102800.html
Timestamp: 2016-10-22 05:21:34
Document Index: 175819561

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 162', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 162']

Final Regs Govern Deductibility of State Legislators' Deemed Living Expenses
IRS and Treasury released final regulations Thursday on the
availability of a special deduction for deemed living expenses of
state legislators (TD 9481).
The final regulations adopt, with amendments, proposed regulations
that were issued in 2008 (REG-119518-07).
IRC § 162(h), a state legislator who lives more than 50 miles from
his or her state capitol building can deduct deemed living expenses
on specified legislative days. To take advantage of this provision,
the state legislator must elect to treat his or her residence within
the legislative district as his or her tax home. Under this
election, the legislator is then deemed to be away from home in
pursuit of a trade or business on each “legislative day” and is
deemed to have expended an amount for living expenses on those days.
amount deemed to have been expended is the amount of the state’s per
diem for its employees or the federal per diem amount for that
state’s capital (Treas. Reg. § 1.162-24(a)(2)).
regulations define “legislative day” to mean any day the legislature
is actually in session, any day the legislature is not in session
for a period of no longer than four consecutive days, any day the
legislator’s attendance is formally recorded at a legislative
committee meeting, or any day the legislator’s attendance is
formally recorded at a pro forma session of the legislature (that
is, a session that only a limited number of members are expected to
attend) (Treas. Reg. § 1.162-24(b)).
regulations say that a person is a “state legislator” for purposes
of these rules starting on the day he or she is sworn in and ending
on the day his or her term in office ends (Treas. Reg. § 1.162-24(d)(1)).
response to comments that some state legislative committees contain
members who are not state legislators, the final regulations define
a “legislative committee” to include groups with one or more
legislators as members and that are charged with conducting business
of the legislature (Treas. Reg. § 1.162-24(d)(4)). Some
commentators on the proposed regulations had expressed concern that
by defining “in session” and “legislative day,” the regulations
would pre-empt state law governing the conduct of legislative
affairs. The preamble to the final regulations clarifies that the
regulations define “in session” and “legislative day” only for
purposes of IRC § 162(h) and do not pre-empt state law governing the
operation of state legislatures. The
preamble to the final regulations clarifies that they govern only
the treatment of deemed living expenses; they do not affect or limit
the deduction for actual travel expenses under section 162(a).
final regulations are effective for expenses paid or incurred, or
deemed expended under section 162(h), in tax years beginning after