We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Parent Dependency and American Tax Policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2023
Federal tax policy offered dependency tax expenditures to taxpayers who helped support their aging parents. This chapter analyzes the 1966 Congressional hearing investigating the adequacy of these federal tax incentives. The hearings occurred during a period of tax reform focused on reducing the number of tax expenditures available through the tax code. The parent’s dependency was not presumed but had to be documented, often resulting in intrusive IRS audits and limited access to benefits. Drawing on letters sent to the committee, this chapter analyzes the voices of adult children and the parents they supported. Their correspondence underscores the hardship that parental support exacted on adult children and their priorities regarding tax benefits for supporting parents. These letters also show the limited options available to parents in need. Relatively minor changes resulted from the hearings, but they illuminate how ideas of dependency and family operated in tax benefits.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
