U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1975

John Melnik and Judith Melnik v. United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided August 25, 1975 · Trask, Choy, Heydt

521 F.2d 1065; 36 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5667; 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 13006 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

Richard L. Fishman, Beverly Hills, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants., Scott P. Crampton, Gilbert E. Andrews, Robert G. Burt, Ernest J. Brown, Michael L. Paup, Tax Div., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., William D. Keller, U. S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellee.

Cases that cite this one

10 later published cases cite this decision.

Santos v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2016)
Arbaugh v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1992)
Watkins v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1990)
Dreher v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1983)
Joseph J. Vetrick, Jr. And Susan H. Vetrick v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (5th Cir. 1980)
Siewert v. United States (District Court, N.D. Texas 1980)
Carter v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1979)
Reed v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1978)
Bouchard v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1977)
Gaines v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1976)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

The appeal in this tax case is from the action of the district court in granting summary judgment to the United States on a claim by the taxpayers for the de-ductibility of educational expenses.

The district court applied Treasury Regulation § 1.162-5(b)(3) to Melnik, an Internal Revenue Agent doing field audits, and determined that his expenditures in acquiring a law degree were made to qualify him for a new trade of business and were, therefore, nondeductible. The taxpayers paid and sued for a refund. Melnik challenges the interpretation of the regulation by the court and also its constitutionality on fifth amendment due process grounds. The court below denied relief on both grounds, 73-2 U.S.Tax.Cas. 19521 (C.D. Cal. 1973).

A similar claim was made by a taxpayer and rejected by the tax court in Weiszmann v. Commissioner, 52 T.C. 1106 (1969), and we affirmed the decision. Weiszmann v. Commissioner, 443 F.2d 29 (9th Cir. 1971). That case is dispositive of the present appeal and we therefore affirm the decision of the district court.

Judgment affirmed.

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