Federal Income Taxation in Focus

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This Second Edition of Federal Income Taxation in Focus joins the celebrated CasebookConnect platform and continues the tradition of preparing students for both the rigors of sophisticated tax practice and the challenge of advanced study in federal tax law. Drafted with the initiate in mind, Federal Income Taxation in Focus employs careful organization, engaging visual enhancements, and student-friendly exposition to communicate both foundational concepts & rules and highly technical refinements. Given the practice-based pedagogy of the Focus Casebook series, this text exposes students to a wide range of IRS pronouncements, and facilitates immediate and frequent application of cases, statutes, and regulations to new fact scenarios.

By requiring completion of select Federal Income Taxation in Practice exercises, professors can enrich their students’ learning experience and, as appropriate, assist those students who must satisfy practice-oriented writing requirements. Professors looking to further buttress practice readiness may rely on materials that address federal tax research, as well as those related to tax controversy and litigation (e.g., audits, assessment, protests, IRS appeals, IDRs, administrative summons, 30-day and 90-day letters, closing agreements, offers in compromise, and more).

New to the Second Edition:

• Expanded discussion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit (with visually-depicted data from the Tax Policy Center)
• Several recent cases, including authorities addressing the insolvency exception and taxpayer “assets,” disability discrimination with collateral physical injury, “actual receipt” by taxpayers suffering with dementia, and #MeToo-related problems and concerns as they intersect with established tax law
• New exhibits from the Congressional Budget Office, Statista.Com, and the Tax Policy Center, all of which facilitate discussion of a wide range of topics (including critical tax theory)
• IRS pronouncements concerning the treatment of employer-provided cell phones as well as the treatment of business meals and entertainment under § 274 in the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Doctrinal regulars, including Kenan v. Commissioner, Wolder v. Commissioner, and a tightly-edited and readily-accessible version of Crane v. Commissioner (with follow-up discussion of the clarification provided by Commissioner v. Tufts)
• Both the 2020 IRS Form 1040 of President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and the 2020 IRS Form 1040 (Schedule A) of Vice-President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff (highlighting the impact of the SALT deduction restriction)
• Several new comics to entertain and amuse both students and professors!

Professors and students will benefit from:

• An exceptionally-clear writing style (consistently generating high praise from students at several law schools)
• Key Statutory and Regulatory Provisions in each chapter (providing highly-focused direction with respect to which Code subsections and Treasury Regulations students need to read)