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

Description

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.

Lawrence Zelenak is the Pamela B. Gann Professor of Law at Duke University, North Carolina.

'Who would have thought that a tax book can be so much fun?! Part tax history, part a comedy of errors, Zelenak's story about the emergence and development of the American tax system is a joy to read. It holds lessons for policymakers, offers ideas to academics, and helps taxpayers to form an informed opinion of what a good tax system should look like.' Alex Raskolnikov, Wilbur H. Friedman Professor of Tax Law, Columbia Law School 'This book was an enjoyable and illuminating read. Zelenak covers such a wide array of tax topics that it can be said with confidence that this book has something for everyone to appreciate.' Glen Loutzenhiser, British Tax Review