Machinery can't be in service for tax purposes until employees of the owner have been trained to use it, the IRS said

Machinery can't be in service for tax purposes until employees of the owner have been trained to use it | Norton Rose Fulbright

December 01, 2000 | By Keith Martin in Washington, DC
MACHINERY CANNOT BE IN SERVICE for tax purposes until employees of the owner have been trained to use it, the IRS said.

The government took this position in a “field service advice” to an agent who was auditing a newspaper company. The newspaper had new printing presses installed. However, just as it was about to start up the presses, its employees went out on strike. The strike lasted a year. After a while, the newspaper deinked the presses and shut them down. There was never any question that the presses were capable of operating before the employees went out on strike. However, it was months after the strike ended before the newspaper was able to go through the process of restarting the presses and training its employees. The IRS national office said the presses were not in service until the employees were trained. The field service advice was written in 1997, but only just released to the public.

Keith Martin