The subject of this book is the Federal Income Taxation of individuals, meaning human beings. It briefly touches on the taxation of partnerships, trusts and corporations, largely for the purpose of enhancing your understanding of how individuals are taxed when they own interests in such entities. The Federal Income Tax on individuals provides the great preponderance of the federal government’s revenues. The other primary sources of government revenue, aside from borrowing money and Social Security taxes, are corporate income taxes, transfer taxes imposed on gifts and the estates of decedents, and so-called excise taxes. The latter are usually in the nature of sales taxes on particular items, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, and some are just penalties under a gentler name.

This book is limited to taxation of U.S. citizens who reside in the United States, subject to some sideways glances at the implications of departing the United States or coming to it as an alien. This book is traditional in nature, and has many of the usual landmark cases on the subject. It contains numerous study problems and requires selected readings of the Internal Revenue Code and the Treasury Regulations.