In re Alexander, No. 12-40408-jwv13, 2012 WL 3156760, at *2–*3 (Bankr. W.D. Mo. Aug. 1, 2012) (Venters)

Local Standards transportation ownership expense is only available for the purchase or lease of a vehicle; debtor cannot claim ownership expense deduction based on $513 secured loan four days before petition. Debtors owned two cars both having over 130,000 miles and in need of repairs. Four days before petition, debtors obtained a $513 loan secured by one of the cars. Stated reason for this borrowing was to allow the debtors to maintain or replace their aging vehicles in light of prior rulings in the district that debtors were not entitled to the $200 additional expense deduction for older, high-mileage cars. “The Court has found three references to vehicle ownership expenses in the [IRS] Manual: Section 5.15.1.7 . . . states, ‘The transportation standards consist of nationwide figures for loan or lease payments referred to as ownership costs.’ Section 5.15.1.9 . . . refers to a ‘vehicle payment (lease or purchase).’ And, most specifically, § 5.8.5.20.3 . . . states: ‘Ownership Expenses—. . . are allowed for purchase or lease of a vehicle.’ . . . [T]he ownership expenses provided for in the Local Standards, as incorporated into § 1325(b) (via § 707(b)(2)) refer to expenses related to the purchase or lease of a vehicle. And the fact that a loan is secured by a car, by itself, does not make the loan a vehicle ownership expense.”

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