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No Thanks, Uncle Sam, You Can Keep Your Tax Break

James Edward Maule, Villanova University School of Law

Article comments

Vol.31:1 (issue 1 of volume 31) of the Seton Hall Legislative Journal

Abstract

This article addresses the question of whether income tax deductions are mandatory, or may be waived by the taxpayer when doing so generates a tax or non-tax benefit. What little authority exists suggests that deductions are optional except in two specific instances related to the computation of net earnings from self-employment. The increasing number of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax, the amount of which can be reduced in many instances by foregoing deductions, makes it very likely that the question will reach the courts in the near future. This article concludes that aside from the two specific instances for which there is authority making certain deductions mandatory, the few IRS and judicial decisions touching on the matter do not require taxpayers to claim available deductions.

Subject Area

Legislation, Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift

Recommended Citation

James Edward Maule, "No Thanks, Uncle Sam, You Can Keep Your Tax Break" (September 2006). Villanova University Legal Working Paper Series. Villanova University School of Law Working Paper Series. Working Paper 58.
http://law.bepress.com/villanovalwps/papers/art58

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