By: A.J. Cook

To make himself approachable and less intimidating to civilians, police Officer Robert J. Geary bought a ventriloquist dummy to ride with him on patrol.

He dressed the puppet in a police uniform complete with a water pistol and a badge with the number "1/2" - and "Officer O'Smarty" was born. It turned out to be a great idea for community relations, and the San Francisco Police Department applauded. But not for long. His supervisor told him to stop using the dummy.

Things got out of hand, as they tend to do when dummies are involved. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking the mayor to ask the police commissioner to allow O'Smarty back on patrol. The mayor refused.

Then Geary spent $11,465 to circumvent the supervisors' decision. He hired professional signature gatherers to circulate petitions to place the dummy on the next ballot and paid the Registrar of Voters to include a lengthy pro-O'Smarty statement in voting material.

The proposition asked to let Geary decide when to bring the dummy back on duty. Voters approved, and O'Smarty was back on the street.

Geary spoke to community groups and gained extensive media attention in the United States and six foreign countries. The New York Times published a story about the ballot for a dummy - who isn't seeking public office.

By capitalizing on the publicity, Geary earned $16,716 for consulting on a screenplay and from a movie studio interested in his idea. He deducted the $11,465 spent to get O'Smarty back in action. The officer said it was deductible either because these were (a) expenses related to income earned or (b) employee expenses for the police department.

The Internal Revenue Service picked (c) none of the above. It said the money went for lobbying and political expenditures; neither is deductible. And it added a negligence penalty.

The Tax Court agreed with the deduction disallowance. It also agreed with the penalty, rejecting Geary's claim he got bad tax advise. He didn't ask anyone, unless it was Officer O'Smarty - who wasn't talking.

A.J. Cook is a lawyer and CPA. His tax column appears weekly in numerous newspapers. Why isn't it published in your hometown newspaper? Ask its Business Editor to subscribe.

Copyright © 1987-2001 A.J. Cook All Rights Reserved
This information is not intended for use without professional advise.
Disclaimer
Released 11-6-00