Supreme Court of the United States, 1973

Fausner v. Commissioner

Supreme Court of the United States · Decided October 9, 1973 · Per Curiam

413 U.S. 838; 93 S. Ct. 2820; 37 L. Ed. 2d 996; 1973 U.S. LEXIS 145 (United States Reports)

Cases that cite this one

173 later published cases cite this decision. The 24 that cite it most often are listed here.

Dennis McCabe v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (2d Cir. 1982)
McCabe v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1981)
Curtis v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2022)
Bogue v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2011)
Frank W. Coker and Regina Coker, and Cross-Appellees v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and Cross-Appellant (2d Cir. 1974)
Lessey v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2022)
Christey v. United States (8th Cir. 1988)
McLaughlin v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1982)
Boser v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1981)
Meehan v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1976)
Feistman v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1974)
Bodzin v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 1973)
Bradfute v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2020)
Hill v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2019)
Evans v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2019)
Winn v. Dept. of Rev. (Oregon Tax Court 2019)
Ellison v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2017)
Adams v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2013)
Gorokhovsky v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2013)
Saunders v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2012)
Ivanov v. Department of Revenue (Oregon Tax Court 2012)
Willock v. Comm'r (United States Tax Court 2010)
EDWARDS v. COMMISSIONER (United States Tax Court 2002)
Barmes v. Commissioner (United States Tax Court 2000)

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

Per Curiam.

Petitioner Donald Fausner, a commercial airlines pilot, who regularly traveled by private automobile from his home to his place of employment and back again, a round trip of approximately 84 miles, sought to deduct the entire cost of commuting under § 162 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, on the theory that his automobile expenses were incurred to transport his flight bag and overnight bag and thus constituted ordinary and necessary business expenses. It is not disputed that petitioner would have commuted by private automobile regardless of whether he had to transport his two bags. The Tax Court disallowed the deduction in toto. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the decision of the Tax Court. 472 F. 2d 561.

This issue has been addressed by two other circuits, Sullivan v. Commissioner, 368 F. 2d 1007 (CA2 1966), and Tyne v. Commissioner, 385 F. 2d 40 (CA7 1967). Both of these circuits concluded that some allocable portion of the expenses incurred could be deducted as an ordinary and necessary business expense. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to follow those cases on the *839 ground that there was no rational basis for any allocation between the nondeductible commuting component and the deductible business component of the total expense.

As the Court of Appeals indicated, Congress has determined that all taxpayers shall bear the expense of commuting to and from work without receiving a deduction for that expense. We cannot read § 262 of the Internal Revenue Code 1 as excluding such expense from “personal” expenses because by happenstance the taxpayer must carry incidentals of his occupation with him.' Additional expenses may at times be incurred for transporting job-required tools and material to and from work. 2 Then an allocation of costs between “personal” and “business” expenses 3 may be feasible. But no such allocation can be made here.

We grant the petition for certiorari and affirm the judgment below.

Mr. Justice Blackmun would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari and set the case for oral argument.

“Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, no deduction shall be allowed for personal, living, or family expenses.” 26 U. S. C. § 262.

See Rev. Rui. 63-100, 1963-1 Cum. Bull. 34.

Sec. 162 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U. S. C. §162 (a).

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.