## Facts

- Morris C. Montgomery and Frances W. Montgomery, spouses filing jointly, lived in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.
- In 1961, they made three round trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for bona fide medical reasons.
- The Commissioner conceded the medical purpose of the trips and conceded that Mr. Montgomery’s accompaniment of his wife on later trips was medically required.
- Travel methods included automobile, train with Pullman and bus, and air travel; on later trips Mr. Montgomery drove to accompany his wife home after surgery/hospitalization.
- The Montgomerys incurred $162.39 for meals and lodging while traveling between Lawrenceburg and Rochester.
- They deducted these en route meal and lodging costs as medical expenses under I.R.C. § 213, treating them as part of “transportation” for medical care.
- The Commissioner disallowed the deduction, characterizing the expenses as non-deductible personal “travel” or living expenses rather than “transportation” expenses.

## Issues

1. Whether meals and lodging expenses incurred while traveling to and from medical treatment are deductible as “transportation” expenses for “medical care” under I.R.C. § 213(e)(1)(B).

## Decision

- The Sixth Circuit affirmed the Tax Court’s judgment for the taxpayers.
- The court held that, where travel is primarily for and essential to medical care, meals and lodging incurred while en route fall within “transportation” under § 213(e)(1)(B).
- The Montgomerys were entitled to deduct the $162.39 in en route meal and lodging expenses as medical expenses.

## Legal Principles

- Under I.R.C. § 213(e)(1)(B), “medical care” includes amounts paid for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care.
- For qualifying medical travel, “transportation” may include expenses incident to the continuous journey, not only fares or vehicle operating costs.
- Meals and lodging incurred solely because of necessary medical travel, and incurred only while in transit, can be treated as deductible transportation expenses rather than non-deductible personal living expenses.

## Conclusion

The Sixth Circuit construed “transportation” in § 213(e)(1)(B) to include meals and lodging incurred while en route on travel that is primarily for and essential to medical care, allowing the taxpayers’ deduction for those costs.


Montgomery v. Commissioner, 428 F.2d 243 (6th Cir. 1970)