So to clarify, Congress wants the employees to recognize income to the full extent upon exercise, but for the corporation to lose or limit the corresponding deduction.

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This should limit the pool of potentially successful litigants to younger non-smokers who did regular exercise and so on, says Mr Schwartz.

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There is however no real prospect of Mr Berlusconi being jailed, as he will exercise his right to appeal and the case will actually soon expire under a time limit, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome reports.

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