Book Description

This concise casebook distills the major technical points and policy themes of taxation, with Part I devoted to introductory income tax materials, and Part II focusing on taxation of property transactions. The casebook is designed for a 3-4-credit introductory income tax course, or a 3-credit income tax course plus a 3-credit taxation of property transactions course. Each chapter includes well-developed problems and discussion questions that can help prompt classroom discussion (reformulated and updated to feature issues under the 2017 Tax Act). The book is designed to help teachers and students make sense of both law and policy, and it demands that students read the Code in addition to the text. The casebook develops a running analysis of income-tax and consumption-tax elements in the Code. It also focuses on the social policy effects of the tax law, with new notes and chapters introducing political economy concerns in tax policy and the concept of "democratic fairness," as well as additional material on the use of the tax code to carry out social policy. The third edition is fully updated through the 2017 Tax Act and includes guidance issued through early 2019.