Fashion Site Owners Properly Denied Utility Deductions, IRS Says

The couple who runs the luxury fashion business Camarbre from a home office shouldn’t be allowed to deduct utility costs as a business expense, the IRS told the First Circuit on Tuesday.

Cassandra Tucker and Edward Brodie appealed after the US Tax Court sustained in July 2023 most of the IRS’s deficiency determinations, ultimately deciding the couple owed about $35,700 to the government for tax years 2015-17. They urged the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse the Tax Court and recognize that they had adequately substantiated their utility deductions.

• The Tax Court was correct that the …