Introduction to Taxation

This edition of Introduction to Taxation was originally published as Fundamentals of Federal Income Tax Law. In writing this book, the author was guided by a view that as income tax law becomes increasingly complex the best approach to its teaching is to return to basics. Thus, Part I contains a concise treatment of federal income tax law focuses on the fundamentals. References throughout to supplementary materials allow for more in-depth exploration of issues. Introduction to Taxation contains more than 25 notes about statutory interpretation, reflecting that tax law is an ideal vehicle for statutory interpretation. The materials also convey two key points about the legislative process as it pertains to tax law: (a) tax law is not static, but is ever changing; and (b) tax law is strongly influenced by special interest group pressures on our legislative body.

The name change for the book reflects the addition of Part II which allows professors to expand an introductory course to include survey materials on taxes other than the federal income tax. Part II addresses property taxes, the estate and gift tax, the social security payroll tax, the taxation of trusts and estates, corporate taxation, international tax issues, and multistate taxation.