*130 Decision will be entered for the respondent.
Travel Expenses --
*750 The Commissioner determined a deficiency of $ 522.26 in income tax for the year 1952.
The question is whether petitioner properly deducted amounts expended for meals and lodging at Thule, Greenland, as expenses incurred while away from home in the pursuit of a trade or business under
FINDINGS OF FACT.
Petitioners, husband and wife, filed their joint income tax return for 1952 with the director of internal revenue for the *131 district of Iowa.
*751 Petitioner, James R. Whitaker (hereafter referred to as petitioner), is a civil engineer. Early in 1951 he resided at Hawarden, Iowa, where he maintained a home for himself and his family.
In February 1951 petitioner commenced work as an assistant project engineer for North Atlantic Constructors, a joint venture operating under a contract with the Department of the Army for the performance of certain off-shore construction in the general vicinity of Thule, Greenland. By the end of 1951 he had been made a project engineer.
Petitioner's employment with North Atlantic Constructors began under a written contract. A second contract was signed on April 4, 1952. The contracts of employment were identical except for dates. Each was entitled "Off-Continent Employment Agreement," and each contained, inter alia, the following provisions:
SECTION 2. TERM OF AGREEMENT.
The term of this Agreement shall be the period during which the services of the Employee are required. No definite period of employment is assured; however, after eight (8) months continuous employment at the job site the Employee may terminate his employment hereunder by giving the Contractor*132 written notice specifying the date on which he desires to terminate his employment, which date shall not be less than fifteen (15) days after the date of delivery of such notice to the Contractor.
SECTION 7. JOB SITE FACILITIES.
(a) Board, lodging, laundry and dry cleaning when available, social services, and such hospitalization, medical services and temporary dental care as in the opinion of the Contractor may be desirable, to keep the Employee in condition to render proper services, will be furnished by the Contractor at the job site to the extent authorized by the Contracting Officer, at a charge of Five Dollars and Seventy Five Cents ($ 5.75) per day. The Employee hereby authorizes the Contractor to deduct all such charges from any payments otherwise due to the Employee hereunder.
(b) The Employee agrees that no claim shall arise against the Contractor for the adequacy of job site facilities furnished hereunder, it being recognized by the Employee that conditions at the job site are unusual; the Contractor will, to the extent of his ability, furnish the best facilities which are possible under the conditions encountered.
SECTION 10. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.
The Employee*133 agrees that if he quits or is terminated for cause prior to the completion of eight (8) months service hereunder, the Contractor's obligations to the Employee shall cease on the date of such quitting or termination for cause, and the Employee shall be liable for the costs and other expenses for his return to the United States. * * *
SECTION 24. CERTIFICATION BY EMPLOYEE.
The Employee Certifies to the Contractor That He Has Read the Foregoing Agreement and That He Fully Understands Its Terms and Conditions, and Further Certifies That the Foregoing Terms and Conditions Constitute His Entire Agreement With the Employer, and That No Promises or Understandings Have Been Made Other Than Those Stated Above; and It Is Specifically Agreed by the Parties Hereto That This Agreement Shall Be Subject to Modification Only by Written Instrument Signed by Both the Contractor and the Employee.
*752 The exact location of the petitioner's job site was a military secret and was not disclosed in the employment agreement. Petitioner was informed that he would be working in a cold climate, and that he would be sent outside the continental limits of the United States. The construction project for*134 which petitioner was hired was located in Thule, Greenland.
In July 1951 petitioner was sent to Thule, Greenland, as assistant project engineer. He was in Thule from December 15, 1951, to January 5, 1952; from April 8, 1952, to August 12, 1952; and from August 29, 1952, to November 26, 1952. He returned to Thule in January 1953 and again in April 1953.
During the year 1952 petitioner left Thule on three separate occasions to travel to the United States. On each of these occasions he stopped in New York City, where his employer's main office was located, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his employer's recruiting office was located.
Petitioner's family was not permitted to accompany him to Greenland. His family remained in Hawarden, Iowa, during all of 1952. On two of the three occasions that he traveled to the United States, petitioner visited his family in Hawarden.
Petitioner's employer either provided him with transportation to and within the United States, or reimbursed him for traveling expenses incurred. Petitioner's employer also reimbursed him for certain board and lodging expenses incurred at New York City, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Hawarden, Iowa, in connection*135 with petitioner's three trips to the United States.
Petitioner's employer did not reimburse him for certain board and lodging expenses incurred at Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the months of February, March, and April 1952. The total amount of these expenses was $ 128.80.
On the joint income tax return filed by petitioner and his wife for the taxable year 1952, he deducted board and lodging expenses amounting to $ 1,503.05 from the total amount of wages received by him during the year. This sum consists of board and lodging expenses in the amount of $ 128.80 incurred at Minneapolis and board and lodging expenses in the amount of $ 1,374.25 incurred at Thule.
In the notice of deficiency respondent determined that of the total amount of $ 1,503.05 claimed as board and lodging expenses, only the sum of $ 128.80 represented an allowable deduction for meals and lodging while employed by North Atlantic Constructors.
Board and lodging expenses in the amount of $ 1,374.25 were incurred by petitioner at Thule from December 15, 1951, to January 5, 1952; from April 8 to August 12, 1952; and from August 29 to November 26, 1952. The sum of $ 1,374.25 was apparently computed by multiplying *136 the number of days in question by $ 5.75, the amount which petitioner's *753 employer charged him for board, lodging, and related services furnished at the job site under the terms of the employment agreement.
Petitioner spent a total of 222 days at his job site in Thule, Greenland, during the taxable year 1952.
Thule, Greenland, was petitioner's main post of duty or principal place of business in 1952.
OPINION.
We here are concerned with
Petitioner earnestly contends that his "principal place of business" during 1952 was in New York, where the main office of his employer was located, and which he and his employer both "considered" to be his principal place of business. He also argues that his "home" was in Hawarden, Iowa, where his family continued to reside and to which he returned, and thus that the expenses which he seeks to deduct were incurred while away from home.
But questions with reference to the meaning of "home" as used in the section of the Code referred to are not so*137 easily answered. In
The proper conclusion becomes more difficult where the taxpayer, as here, travels from place to place during the taxable year in pursuit of his business or that of his employer. In cases of this type we have held that a distinction is to be made whether the employment is of a "temporary" or "indefinite" duration at a particular place.
The employment of petitioner in Thule may have lacked permanence, but from an examination of all the facts as we see them, it was not the kind of employment to be considered temporary in character. Rather, we think it was of indefinite duration*138 as specifically set out in the employment contract. At least 8 months employment was contemplated and petitioner in fact spent 222 days in Greenland during 1952. Petitioner was required to make several trips from Thule to "Stateside," and he argues that this supports his contention that Thule was not his principal place of business or post. He testified, *754 however, that the time spent in the States was for the purpose of planning and conferring with reference to the job in Greenland, and we think the inference is clear that these trips were incidental to the proper performance of his primary job in Thule. They do not prove that he had a post or principal place of employment elsewhere.
We are unable to distinguish this case in any material respect from
Neither do we think the expenditures can be said to have been incurred by plaintiff while away from home within the meaning of
The Ney case was followed in
Here, although petitioner contends Thule was not his main post of duty or principal*140 place of business, we think the facts call for the ultimate finding that it was. The fact that petitioner was not permitted to take his family to Thule, so that he had no choice in the matter, does not help petitioner. In this respect the case is somewhat similar to
The fact that housing conditions in Oak Ridge were such that it was difficult or impossible to bring his wife there with him is not of any help to petitioner in this case.
*755 We also point out that while the facts in
On all the facts we hold that the deductions in dispute are not travel expenses away from home deductible within the meaning of the statute. They were personal living expenses.
Because of an uncontested adjustment
Decision will be entered for the respondent.