Cambridge Tax Law Series: Figuring Out the Tax: Congress, Treasury, and the Design of the Early Modern Income Tax

Figuring Out the Tax recounts the forgotten early development of the federal income tax in the US, resulting from the interplay between Congress and the Treasury Department in the decades following the enactment of the tax in 1913. It covers a wide range of topics including the income tax treatments of marriage, capital losses, charitable contributions and homeownership, as well as the rise, demise and resurrection of income tax withholding. Lawrence Zelenak deftly illustrates how the income tax achieved its current form through a range of stories which are new to tax history scholarship and involve some remarkable personalities and surprising plot twists. Although of particular interest to tax academics and professionals, this book will also serve as a useful introduction to the development of income tax for undergraduate students and law students.

1. Introduction: Cordell Hull writes the income Tax; 2. The birth, death, and resurrection of income tax withholding; Part I. Technical Problems Exposed by the High Tax Rates of World War I: 3. How the income tax became tax-inclusive; Part II. Early Mistakes and the Persistence of Error: 4. The tax-free step-up in basis at death and the charitable deduction for unrealized appreciation: the early mistakes; 5. The tax-free step-up in basis at death and the charitable deduction for unrealized appreciation: the failed reforms; Part III. Congress Muddles Through: 6. Capital losses in the early income tax; 7. A troubled relationship from the start: marriage and the income tax; Part IV. Congress Goes Its Own Way: 8. The early income tax and the imputed rental income of homeowners; 9. 'Blowing a kiss' at earned income; Part V. Concluding Perspectives: 10. 'Answers to inquirers'; 11. Is there a moral to the story?