Thomas J. Doyle and Laura A. Doyle v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Petitioners, husband and wife, claimed certain expenses, incurred in 1958 and 1959, as deductible “traveling expenses” for federal income tax purposes. The Tax Court concluded that the expenses were not deductible, and the Petition for Review followed. Our jurisdiction derives from section 7482 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

The petitioner husband will be called the taxpayer. In 1944, he and his family established a home in Lodi, California. The wife’s family resided in that city, and since the taxpayer intended to engage himself in work on construction projects overseas, he wished his wife to be near her relatives in his absence. From 1950 through 1960, the taxpayer worked as a construction supervisor on different projects which took him to Eniwetok, Morocco, the Philippine Islands, and Panama for periods ranging in duration from five to twenty months. His family did not accompany him on these tours. He and his wife had invested approximately $150,000 in real estate, which was situated in the vicinity of their home. When the taxpayer’s work took him away from Lodi, his wife managed the real property, most of which was under lease.

In September, 1957, and prior thereto,…