Abstract
In this Article we propose a thought experiment: What if we were to think about the problems Professor Kahn poses from the perspective of income-as-standard? Doing so will allow us to explore the utility of such an approach in a concrete way. Professor Kahn develops the commercial/noncommercial distinction by working through a series of interesting hypothetical scenarios, and we use these scenarios as the foundation of our thought experiment. In Part II, which follows this Introduction, we examine those scenarios using the income-as-standard approach. In Part III we compare the application of rule-based and standard-based approaches to the general issue raised by Professor Kahn and, having concretely contrasted the two approaches, return to the conclusion we reached in Defining Income: standards have important virtues that make them superior to rules for resolving some fundamental questions in federal income tax law. We conclude in Part IV by summarizing the virtues of regarding the definition of income as a standard and pointing toward future scholarship that will apply a standard-based framework to other fundamental questions in tax law. Our exploration of the definition of income has shown us that contemporary tax analysis often assumes that all tax formulations are rules. We believe that while many are, income is not.
Recommended Citation
Abreu, Alice G. and Greenstein, Richard K.
(2013)
"It's Not a Rule: A Better Way to Understand the Definition of Income,"
Florida Tax Review: Vol. 13:
No.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/ftr/vol13/iss1/3