The petitioner, a mechanical engineer, wanted to expand his business into Central and South America and paid $25,000 to a consultant from El Salvador. The payment was in cash that the petitioner borrowed from family and cash he kept in a lockbox. The court did not believe the petitioner's testimony and characterized the receipts as unreliable hearsay that didn't prove the payments were actually made. The court noted that it gave the petitioner a chance to provide an affidavit or other evidence to substantiate the payments, but the petitioner did not do so. The contract labor expense deduction was denied. Van Velzor v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2014-71