50 years ago in The Tax Adviser.

• Position: TTA 50 YEARS

Here are some highlights from the September 1970 issue.

Treble damages and tax policy

Underlying [the enactment of Sec. 162(g)], however, is the idea that the tax laws should be used to accomplish socially desirable results in other areas. Thus, it is argued that the tax laws should deny a deduction for treble damages as an additional penalty for violators of the antitrust laws.... Certainly, however, the law that is now on the books will serve to increase the cost of at least some antitrust violations, and it behooves those concerned, or who might be concerned, to examine carefully any attempts to broaden this provision.

--John M. Skilling Jr., Esq., "The Increased Price of Antitrust Violations,' p. 562. Skilling was a partner of Lee, Toomey & Kent in Washington.

Dependency exemption gross income test

Everyone is familiar with the $600 gross income test for dependency exemptions. Basically, assuming you satisfy the other requirements, you can claim a person as a dependent if he has less than $600 of gross income.... However, a taxpayer will often miss out on a dependency exemption because he overlooks the fact that gross income is a word of art... .The 1969 Tax Reform Act has made dependency exemptions more valuable. So be on the lookout for "actual income" that is not "gross income" in applying the $600 test. Typical examples include life insurance proceeds, social security payments and...