John Brooks on Realization of Income

As highlighted in previous episodes, the Internal Revenue Code provides a long list of transactions that are or are not income. The Code itself does not define what constitutes income. This conceptual question matters not only to income tax calculation, but also to Congress's power to impose an income tax under the Sixteenth Amendment. The definition of income—particularly, whether "realization" is a necessary element—has troubled courts for almost as long as the income tax has existed in the U.S. Just this past term, the Supreme Court wrestled with this question once again in Moore v. United States.

In this episode, Professor John (Jake) Brooks takes a deep dive into the case laws on this particular question. This episode was recorded prior to the Supreme Court's opinion in Moore—a case for which Professor Brooks co-authored an amici curiae brief. Professor Brooks is a professor of law at Fordham University School of Law. 

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