Court Opinion

ID: 9446554
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 21:58:20.431944+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:41.949516
License: Public Domain

HAND, Circuit Judge
(dissenting in part).
I agree that the cost of an automobile may not be deducted, for it is not within § 213(e)(B) which allows a deduction for “transportation primarily for and essential to medical care referred to in sub-paragraph (A),” which subparagraph covers expenses for the “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.” Expressio unius, exclusio altering.
As to the wear and tear upon his clothing, I disagree with the Tax Court. I can see no reason for limiting such expenses to uniforms prescribed by the employer; to me that is an entirely arbitrary and capricious line to draw. Take, for example, the “apron” that this taxpayer wears to protect his clothes. I cannot think of anything more peculiarly an expense of the business than that: it had no other use, and it was necessary to prevent damage to his other property. I should also include any extra cost of the clothes that he had to wear in order to prevent or lessen the injury that ordinary clothes would suffer from the character of his work. The decisions of the Tax Court seem to me to leave uncertain the decision of this issue.