CASES AND MATERIALS ON FEDERAL TAXATION

by Roswell Magill '16. TheFoundation Press, Inc., 1950; $7.00.

In "Cases and Materials on Federal Taxation", Roswell Magill, Professor of Law at Columbia University, has added another valuable casebook on federal taxation to earlier well-known tax books by the same author. This recent volume, an outgrowth of 25 years teaching experience in federal taxation, indicates the increasing importance attached in law schools to courses on taxation as a result of the enormous increase in federal income tax receipts and litigation.

The difficulties of defining taxable income are illustrated as well as contributions of the courts to the formulation of the concept of income. Stress is laid upon the fundamental approach of the Congress and the Supreme Court to the problem of determining what is income.

The book covers only federal tax cases, not taxation in general, and the bulk of the 90 cases which are reprinted deal with the federal income tax, and the others with the federal estate and gift taxes. It should prove useful primarily to law school students and teachers, although accountants and others may find it a convenient source of reference to major cases.

The scope of the subject matter is indicated by the Chapter headings under Income Tax: Constitutional Background, Jurisdiction, the Nature of Taxable Income (including when income is realized, sales and exchanges, gifts, corporate distributions and reorganizations), Deductions, and Classes of Taxpayers.

Among the features which will appeal to teachers and students of law are the frequent Notes and Problems at the end of many cases, the footnote references to relevant supplementary materials, especially in Law Reviews, and a classified index.