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Current Constitutional Problems In Federal Taxation, Charles L.B. Lowndes

Vanderbilt Law Review

The most significant constitutional problem in federal taxation today is the absence of constitutional problems. The federal income, estate and gift taxes all encountered an extremely critical reception at the hands of the courts and suffered serious constitutional set-backs early in their careers. Today, however, they function in a constitutional climate as benevolent as it was formerly hostile. A microscopic analysis of the present federal tax system may reveal minor irregularities which might conceivably be magnified into major constitutional issues. From a practical point of view, however, the chance of invalidating a federal tax assessment on constitutional grounds is infinitesimal. …