Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1992
Abstract
Since the adoption in 1919 of the Revenue Act of 1918, damages received on account of personal injuries or sickness have been excluded by statute from gross income.1 This exclusion, which does not apply to reimbursements for medical expenses for which the taxpayer was previously allowed a tax deduction,2 is presently set forth in section 104(a)(2). One might expect that a provision having recently attained the ripe age of 75 years without change in its basic language would have a settled meaning. However, recent litigation under section 104(a)(2) bristles with unsettled issues. Does the exclusion apply to punitive damages? To prejudgment interest included in a personal injury recovery? To recoveries under various antidiscrimination statutes?
Recommended Citation
Kahn, Douglas A. "Compensatory and Punitive Damages for a Personal Injury: To Tax or Not to Tax." Fla. Tax Rev. 2, no. 6 (1995): 327-84.
Included in
Legal Remedies Commons, Legislation Commons, Supreme Court of the United States Commons, Tax Law Commons, Torts Commons