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Issues regarding the impact of IRC section 68, which limits itemized deductions, on the tax rates of high-income and other taxpayers are examined, focusing on the way section 68 increases marginal tax rates, limits deductions, and forces some taxpayers to use the standard deduction rather than itemized deductions.

Research indicates the quantities of Congressional tax legislation and tax legislative history have not grown when compared with the overall increases in all types of legislation and histories. Despite perceptions of an increased amount of tax legislation, the number of tax laws enacted since 1954 has declined, except in the period 1975-1988. The dramatic increase in Congress's legislative output, beginning in the 1960s, may be the reason for this skewed perception.

The Tax Court was wrong to use an entity-based analysis of partnership taxation in the Brown Group case. Because of this faulty logic, the court ruled that income earned was not subpart F income because the partnership was not a controlled foreign corporation. Had the court applied the aggregate approach to partnership taxation, which has been the standard since 1982, the decision would have favored Brown.

Not all of the tax expenditures used on housing are spent by consumers on housing. The expenditures come from the deduction of interest on home mortgages. However, such mortgage loans could be used for other consumer purchases. Probably over 5% of such tax deductions on mortgage interest are for non-mortgage uses of loans borrowed against mortgages.

In Letter Ruling 200430028, the IRS took a flexible approach in deciding whether to treat an entity as a cooperative for tax purposes. The Service looked to the underlying structure [...]