A Bundle of Confusion for the Income Tax: What It Means to Own Something

Authors

Stephanie H. McMahon, University of Cincinnati College of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

ABSTRACT-Conceptions of property exist on a spectrum between the Blackstonian absolute dominion over an object to a bundle of rights and obligations that recognizes, if not encourages, the splitting of property interests among different people. The development of the bundle of rights conception of property occurred in roughly the same era as the enactment of the modem federal income tax. Nevertheless, when Congress enacted the tax in 1913, it did not consider how the nuances of property, and the possible splitting of the interests in an income-producing item, might affect application of the tax. Soon after the tax's enactment, the Treasury Department and the courts were confronted with questions of who owned, and could be taxed on, what income. As shown by an examination of family partnerships and synthetic leases, the government continues to struggle with determining who owns a sufficent property interest to be taxed because Congress has yet to define ownership for tax purposes.

Recommended Citation

Stephanie Hunter McMahon, A Bundle of Confusion for the Income Tax: What It Means to Own Something, 108 Nw. U. L. Rev. 959 (2014)