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TMI Blog1969 (11) TMI 90X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ttle finger of his left hand while sharpening a pencil at his work. The injury did not heal ; the top joint proved to be useless ; it was necessary to perform an operation in order, as he explained, to play his guitar. An operation was carried out on the advice of a specialist, and 80 per cent. flexibility was happily restored, and he had to pay ? 81 in fees. That is the sum which he seeks to deduct. I will next read the relevant parts of the case stated. There were put in evidence certain printed sheets of notepaper used by the taxpayer. The only purpose of those, I suppose, was to show that he did bona fide carry on the business of a dance musician. There is no dispute about that. Also put in was an unsworn written statement made by the surgeon who performed the operation. I will read that statement. No objection has been taken at any stage to its admissibility. Mr. Prince first consulted me about the injury to his finger on about July 5, 1966. I inspected the finger and observed that he was unable to bend the end joint of the little finger of his left hand and this disability was due to the division of the flexor tendon to this terminal joint. In such a case one wo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... v. Golder [1945] 26 T. C. 293 ; 13 I.T.R. (Supp.) 21, the facts as set out in the headnote were as follows : The appellant, a shorthand writer, appealed against an assessment to income tax (Schedule D) in respect of his professional earnings. He had suffered from a severe illness and had incurred expenses-doctor's bills, etc. He stated that his illness was the direct result of working in unfavourable conditions. He contended that the expenses should be deducted in computing the liability to tax in respect of his earnings as being expenditure wholly and exclusively incurred in connection with his professional work, and not domestic expenditure. Lord Greene, with whom the other members of the Court of Appeal agreed, deals with certain technical points raised by Mr. Norman. He then deals with the doctor's bills. He considers the contention that Mr. Norman was entitled to wear and tear allowance and proceeds, at page 298 : He says it is deductible on general grounds. The answer there, to my mind, is quite conclusive. The rules about deductions are to be found in rule 3 of the Rules applicable to Cases I and II of Schedule D, in which deduction is prohibited in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , Stokes Lowless v. Beeson [1952] 33 T. C. 491 (C. A.), although not mentioned by the commissioners in paragraph 9, was in fact brought to their notice. The headnote reads : The appellants, a firm of solicitors, incurred expenses in entertaining clients. On appeal to the special commissioners, they claimed a deduction for the expenses on the grounds that they were incurred for the purpose of earning profits and were money wholly and exclusively laid out or expended for the purposes of the profession within rule 3(a) of the Rules applicable to Cases I and II of Schedule D. The commissioners, being of opinion that the provision of entertainment was not necessary for professional purposes and that the expenses could not be wholly divorced from the relationship of host and guest, held that the expenses were not wholly and exclusively laid out for the purposes of the profession and dismissed the appeal. Held, that the commissioners had applied an erroneous test and that there was no evidence upon which they could reach their decision. The judgment of the Court of Appeal was given by Romer L. J., and I must read one often-cited passage, at page 503 : The releva ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e must be wholly and exclusively to promote the trade or profession. The third case cited was the recent case of Murgatroyd v. EvansJackson [1967] 43 T. C. 581. The headnote reads : The respondent carried on the profession of a trade-mark agent. In August, 1962, he was advised to have treatment in hospital. He was offered a bed in a hospital under the National Health Service, but he could not have carried on his business owing to the lack of a telephone and restricted facilities for visiting, and so could not accept it. Instead he entered a nursing home as a private patient, where he was provided with a room and with all the necessary facilities for carrying on his business ; he held conferences with clients there, saw members of his staff each day and dealt with correspondence. On appeal against an assessment to income tax under Case II of Schedule D for the year 1963-64 the respondent contended that 60 per cent. of his total expenses at the nursing home (i.e. nursing home fees and charges for drugs and dressings, treatment, television and telephone) should be allowed as a business expense in respect of the use of the room as an office. For the Crown it was contend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndergone it had he not wished to continue to play the guitar. There is nothing in those sentences which confines the finding to a wish to continue to play the guitar professionally. It is a finding that he would not have undergone the operation if he had not wished to continue to play the guitar and that must in the context mean had he not wished to play the guitar in the same circumstances as those in which he had hitherto played it, i.e., partly as a hobby and partly professionally. If that is a correct reading of the finding, as I think it is, then the special commissioners had material upon which they could reach their conclusion, and that is the end of this case. If the finding had included the word professionally (i.e., if it had read He would not have undergone it had he not wished to continue to play the guitar professionally ) the result might, I think, have been otherwise. However, that word professionally is not there. I do not think on the facts as found in this case that the commissioners would have been justified in making a finding that the taxpayer incurred this operation for the purpose of putting his finger right, apart from his wish to make ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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