Discuss Whether the Following Expenditures Meet the Ordinary, Necessary, and Reasonable

question 81

Essay

Discuss whether the following expenditures meet the ordinary, necessary, and reasonable requirements for deductibility.
a.Mortimer owns a shoe store. Every August Mortimer has a "Back-to-School" sale. To promote that event Mortimer spends $2,000 on newspaper and radio advertising. Generally, this event generates about $85,000 in sales. These sales revenues are about twice the level of sales in other months.
b.Wilma bought a small manufacturing business that had been declared bankrupt. To retain the current sales force, she pays some of the obligations owed to these people by the former owners. Wilma has no legal obligation to pay these debts.
c.Ned owns a large sporting goods store. Nick's 17-year-old son, Tony, works in the store when time permits. Nick pays Tony $10 per hour because he has worked in the store several years. Other high school age individuals also work at the store and perform functions requiring less experience than Tony. They are paid $8 per hour.
d.Art is a self-employed CPA. Last month he attended an AICPA Continuing Education course that cost him $750. In addition to the course registration fee, Art incurred $800 in travel expenses to attend the course.
e.Elvira is a stockholder in over 100 different corporations. However, she does not own more than 10 shares of stock in any one company. She enjoys attending annual stockholder meetings and often gives her "two cents worth" about issues affecting the companies' operations. In the past year Elvira spent $7,540 to attend the stockholder meetings to help protect her investments.

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Definitions:

Americans

Residents or citizens of the United States of America, characterized by diverse ethnicities, cultures, and traditions within a federal constitutional republic.

Shareholders Happy

A term used to describe the satisfaction of shareholders due to favorable business outcomes, often related to profitability or stock price increases.

Government Subsidized

Financial aid provided by the government to support individuals, organizations, or industries, often aiming to lower costs, encourage certain activities, or ensure availability of services.

Maximum Human Life Span

The highest age that human beings can live to, given optimal health conditions and lack of external mortality factors, estimated to be around 120-125 years.