Federal Income Taxation of Individuals: An Integrated Approach (Doctrine and Practice Series)

On the 25th anniversary of Jeffrey Kwall’s groundbreaking The Federal Income Taxation of Corporations, Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies, and Their Owners (now in its 6th edition), Kwall has done it again with a brand-new take on personal income tax in The Federal Income Taxation of Individuals: An Integrated Approach. Part of Foundation Press’s forward-looking Doctrine and Practice Series, Kwall’s book offers a modern approach to income tax designed to resonate with the current generation of law students. The book fully integrates the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and, in addition to the traditional cases, contains a collection of contemporary cases with provocative fact patterns that will interest all students. In that light, the book was designed to accommodate students with different learning styles by providing explanatory text and notes, detailed examples and problems, and a myriad of text boxes offering insights, discussion questions, online references, points worth noting, and applications to the practice of law. A primary goal of the book is to expose students to practical tax problems and to heighten student awareness of quality of practice issues. This goal dovetails with the book’s recurring theme that economic considerations always outweigh tax considerations.

The book consists of 18 Chapters. After an Introduction (Chapter 1), Chapters 2-8 focus on Gross Income. Because tax law is a foreign subject to most law students, these early chapters explore gross income in the context of familiar economic relationships (e.g., a business owner and its employees, a donor and a donee, a lender and a borrower). Chapters 9 and 10 address Deductions. In addition to focusing on allowance provisions, these chapters integrate the consequential impact of classifying deductions as section 62 deductions, miscellaneous itemized deductions, and other itemized deductions. Chapters 11-14 are focused on Timing questions with emphasis on the tax law’s treatment of time value of money issues. Chapters 15 and 16 address Tax Rates and include coverage of assignment of income issues, capital gains and losses, and dividends. Chapter 17 highlights the Alternative Minimum Tax and Chapter 18 introduces the taxation of corporations and partnerships to whet students’ appetites for future tax courses.

The book is ideally suited for a three-credit or four-credit introductory income tax course.