Hantzis v. Commissioner
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
638 F.2d 248 (1981)
Catherine Hantzis (plaintiff), a full-time Harvard Law student living in Boston with her husband, took a temporary summer legal-assistant job in New York and regularly traveled back to Boston to see him. She deducted her New York travel and living costs as a business expense under § 162(a)(2). The Commissioner (defendant) disallowed the deduction, reasoning New York, her actual workplace, was her tax "home," so her New York costs weren't incurred "away from home," and also that her costs weren't incurred in pursuit of a trade or business. The Tax Court disagreed on both points, holding Boston was her home because the New York job was only temporary, and ruled for Hantzis. The Commissioner appealed.
Whether a federal taxpayer's home for purposes of 26 U.S.C. § 162(a)(2) is the headquarters or principal location of the taxpayer's business activities.