William C. Horrmann

17 T.C. 903 (1951)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P got property by devise from his mother upon her death in 1940. P spent $9,000 fixing up the house and sold his former residence. P then moved into the house and used it as his personal residence until 1942 at which time he abandoned the house. The property was sold in 1945 with the net proceeds of the sale to be $20,800. At the time that P got the property it was worth $60,000, and when abandoned as his residence, the value was $45,000 with $35,000 allocated to land and the balance to the buildings. P considered converting the property to an apartment house, but that was abandoned. P also tried to rent the house as well and to sell it on numerous occasions. P wanted to take a deduction for depreciation of the property in 1943, 1944, and 1945 and a deduction for expenses incurred to maintain the property and a deduction for the long-term capital loss that he suffered on the property. The Commissioner issued a notice of deficiency in income tax to P. P filed a petition with the court and the court conducted a trial.