Matthew T. Phillips

Federal Income Taxation (Law)

Few legal issues have an impact with the breadth of the federal tax system. This course is intended to equip you with a working knowledge of the tax system so that you can provide sound advice in the context of issues with tax consequences and as a foundation for further study.

Course Objectives

  • Master the interaction of the statutes, regulations, and rulings that inform tax law
  • Establish familiarity with the division of tax items into the categories of “income,” “income exclusion,” “deduction,” and “credit”
  • Learn to evaluate the policy reasons behind considered provisions of the tax code

Reading Sources

Required casebook: Joel S. Newman, Federal Income Taxation: Cases, Problems and Materials (4th ed. 2008) (“Newman”)

Recommended codebook: Daniel J. Lathrope, Selected Federal Taxation Statutes and Regulations (June 2010 ed.) OR Steven A. Bank & Kirk J. Stark, Selected Section: Federal Income Tax Code and Regulations (2010-2011 ed.)You may access tax statutes, regulations, and rulings via online resources, but there is no substitute for seeing the interaction of these various sources in a printed form. You will not be able to use online resources to access the tax code and regulations during the exam.

Optional supplemental resource: Marvin A. Chirelstein, Federal Income Taxation (10th ed. 2005)Chirelstein is a helpful resource for expanding upon concepts learned in class and makes a good reference for your bookshelf in the practice of law.

Research Resources

Tax in Movies and on TV