Discuss what you think the ruling should be for the attached REAL court cases on business deductions. Use the criteria for business deductions video to guide your discussion.

(Business Deductions Court Cases)

1 - Free Beer
A gas station owner gave his customers free beer in lieu of S&H Green Stamps (coupons collected to get free stuff in the “olden days”). “From October 1974 through the end of 1975 the taxpayer offered his service station customers S&H Green Stamps as a promotional item. Since many of his customers were oil field workers, it was suggested to taxpayers that he would get more business if he would give free beer to his customers rather than S&H Green Stamps. Thus, in January 1976, he discontinued giving S&H Green Stamps and began offering free beer to his customers as a promotional
item.
The beer was purchased from various grocery and liquor stores. It was kept in an old Coca-Cola vending machine The taxpayer had purchased and from which he removed the coin mechanism. Free beer was offered to any customer who traded with the taxpayer’s service station. Usually, the customer would park his car in a gas stall, and while the vehicle was being filled with gasoline or serviced, the customer was offered and allowed to drink beer in the station. Customers normally had one or two beers. Approximately 95 percent of the beer was consumed by taxpayer’s customers, and the remaining 5 percent was consumed by his employees, who were permitted to drink beer after closing. The taxpayer was not a beer drinker. Taxpayer’s business increased after he began offering free beer to his customers.
2 - Cat food
Junkyard owners set out bowls of pet food nightly to feed the wild cats that roamed around the business. The owners said that the wild cats helped take care of their nasty snake and rat problem.

3 - Free Whiskey
An attorney and his wife deducted the cost of “approximately four cases of whiskey delivered to taxpayer's home in Tulsa and used there for entertainment” to assist in the retention and development of the taxpayer’s law business. This occurred in 1954 and Oklahoma was a “dry”
state at that time. It was not unlawful to use liquor personally and serve personal guests in a home, but all other uses were against the law. There was a "prohibition ordinance" that made it “unlawful to manufacture, import, transport, sell, barter, give away or otherwise furnish intoxicating liquors.” The taxpayers argued that it was "the usual practice in the City of Tulsa and in the State of Oklahoma for attorneys-at-law in the general practice to furnish
liquor in connection with the entertainment of clients and prospective clients."
4 – Trophy Home
Taxpayers formed a business that was structured as a multilevel network marketing company with hierarchical levels of distributors. In keeping with the business’ nature as a multilevel marketing organization, a primary focus of the entity's operations was on motivating its distributors. Taxpayers and members of their extended family played a prominent role in interacting personally with distributors at business events. In these interactions, the taxpayers believed that it was critical for every aspect of their lives, from their attire and personal grooming to their residence, to portray an appearance of extreme affluence and success. They felt that distributors who were impressed to the point of being overwhelmed with what could be achieved through multilevel marketing would be encouraged to build their own downline networks in hopes of reaping similar benefits. The taxpayers renovated their personal residence into a trophy home to promote their business and deducted the cost of renovations.
5 – Marijuana Dispensary
A marijuana dispensary in a state where it is legal to sell is deducting the cost of various general and administrative expenses of running the business such as office expenses, building rent, and salaries of employees.

6 - Cost of hiring a consultant
A Pittsburgh, PA owner of a failing furniture store paid an arsonist to burn down his store. He reported the $500,000 insurance payment as income, and deducted the $10,000 paid to the arsonist as a “consulting fee.”
.
7 - Body oil
The taxpayer was a boilermaker by trade. However, he was also a bodybuilder. He entered competitions, “lifting weights, posed to display his muscular finesse, trained other bodybuilders, and gave seminars. Some of his poses were published in bodybuilding publications. The taxpayer won awards and received at least one endorsement from a supplement manufacturer for which he received supplements valued at $100 per month.” He filed this activity as a business on Schedule C and deducted the cost of various body oils and lotions that were featured in bodybuilding magazines. The oils weren’t available at health/nutrition stores. The oils were used during competitions to enhance the appearance of the body. One of the oils was a “self-tanning” type of lotion which turned the skin a tannish/brownish color.
8 – Nelly’s “Grillz”
While this specific issue has not come up in court regarding Nelly, and we don’t even know whether or not he did deduct his Grillz, a number of CPAs have pondered the question of whether or not he could. He and Paul Wall had a hit song, “Grillz” in 2005. The cost of Wall’s diamond-studded Grillz was about $16,000. Do you think the cost of these items would be a legitimate business expense for Nelly and Paul?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1The taxpayer purchased the beer for cash and did not keep any records of the cost of the beer I thi... View the full answer