Court Opinion

ID: 9583212
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:35:58.397453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:52.951488
License: Public Domain

SUNDBY, J.
(dissenting). Because I conclude that some of the disallowed expenses are "ordinary and necessary business expenses,” I would reverse and remand to the commission to determine which of the disallowed deductions are properly deductible.
The commission found:
13. Petitioner claims that the purpose of having the wives of petitioner’s employes attend the annual sales conference was to motivate the area contractors’ wives to motivate their husbands to sell petitioner’s products and to promote a certain family image. The wives’ presence assisted in the creation of a family atmosphere and motiva*505tion which petitioner sought to instill in the area contractors and their Avives. Petitioner’s employes’ Avives also participated in a variety of activities such as assembling literature packets, assembling hardware displays, assisting in registration of participants, assisting in room reservations, acting as table hostesses, assisting in audio-visual presentations, and hostessing ladies’ programs.
The commission concluded:
During the period under review a substantial percentage of the business activities for the employes’ wives of petitioner were social and recreational and the incidental services performed by the Avives of the employes of petitioner did not constitute a bona fide business purpose. [Emphasis added.]
The commission’s conclusion that all of the claimed deduction should be disallowed does not follow from its own findings. SpaceSaver would have had to use existing employes or hire employes at the convention sites to perform many of the jobs performed by the wives. I do not believe those services are any less valuable to SpaceSaver because they were performed by employes’ wives.
Our society has come to recognize that wives make a substantial contribution to their husbands’ careers. The philosophy of Forsberg Paper Box Co. v. Department of Taxation, 14 Wis. 2d 93, 109 N.W.2d 457 (1961), relied on by the commission is anachronistic.