• William owns a building that is leased to Lester's Machine Shop. Lester requests that William rewire the building for new equipment Lester plans to purchase. The wiring would cost about $4,000, but would not increase the value of the building because its only use is in connection with the specialized equipment. Rather than lose Lester as a lessee, William agrees to forego one month's rent of $1,000 if Lester will pay for the wiring. Because Lester does not want to move, he agrees. William has asked you, as his CPA, what amount, if any, he will have to include in his gross income?

A partial list of research sources is:

Sec. 109

Reg. Sec. 1.109-1

CIR v. Grace H. Cunningham, 2 AFTR 2d 5511, 58-2 USTC 9771 (9th Cir., 1958)