Charley Long is a truck driver, the 18-wheeler variety. He works for Fishy Co., a seafood company in Mobile, Alabama, and drives a company truck. Charley’s job entails leaving Mobile at 4:00 PM each day (five days per week) and delivering fresh fish to restaurants and wholesale fish distributors in Mississippi and Louisiana. His last stop, in Lafayette, Louisiana, is generally around 12:00 midnight. It normally takes Charley about five hours to get back to Mobile.
Charley’s routine is varied. Sometimes, he drives straight back to Mobile from Lafayette. On other occasions, he will pull off at a truck stop and sleep in his cab before returning to Mobile. His cab is equipped with sleeping facilities, although small and sparse. Finally, on other occasions, Charley will spend the night in a motel along the road. The Fishy Co. has no preference as to what Charley does and has given him permission to either drive back or stay overnight. However, the company does not reimburse him for his food and lodging expenses.
When Charley drives straight back to Mobile, Charley will eat one meal. When he sleeps overnight (either in his cab or in a motel) he will eat two meals a late dinner and breakfast. He spends an average of $10.00 for dinner and $6.00 for breakfast. The cost of his motel averages $70.00 per night. When Charley sleeps in the cab, he generally sleeps about 4–5 hours and then drives on to Mobile.
During the current year, Charley incurred the following expenses:
Meals incurred on nonstop trips ………………… $1,000
Meals incurred when: slept in cab ……………….. 800
Slept in motel ……………………………………. 600
Lodging ………………………………………….. 2,800
Total ………………………………………………. $5,200
The IRS has disallowed all of the above expenses on the grounds that they are not bona fide travel expenses but personal expenses. Would you advise Charley to contest this issue?
A partial list of research sources is:
• Sec. 162(a)(2) and Reg. Sec. 1.162-2(a)
• U.S. v. Correll, 389 U.S. 299 (1967)
• Williams v. Patterson, 286 F.2d 333 (5th Cir. 1961)
• Rev. Rul. 75-168, 1975-1 C.B. 58 and Rev. Rul. 75-432, 1975-2 C.B. 60