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The Parenting Tax Penalty: A Framework For Income Tax Reform, Charles O'Kelley

Faculty Articles

Part I considers the proper tax treatment of out-of-pocket parenting expenses such as the costs incurred in providing food, clothing, shelter, and other goods and services to children for their consumption. Part I first characterizes the principal design alternatives to the present flat dependency deduction. It then examines the dominant accretion definition of income and concludes that the current flat dependency deduction is more consistent with the accretion concept and our actual governing beliefs than any of the alternatives advocated by its critics. Part II considers the tax relevance of imputed income from self-performed services. It explains (1) how the …