A History of Tax Regulation Prior to the Administrative Procedure Act

Abstract

The relationship of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to tax administration has been the subject of increasing scrutiny from scholars and courts. Some of this scrutiny has critiqued the long-held view of the Department of Treasury that tax regulations issued under the general grant of authority in I.R.C. § 7805(a) are interpretative regulations within the meaning of the APA. This Article reviews the almost 150–year history of tax administration before the enactment of the APA to show the origins and basis for this long-held view. The Article also argues that the application of the general terms of the APA to tax administration must be informed by this pre–APA history of tax regulation.

Publication Citation

Bryan T. Camp, A History of Tax Regulation Prior to the Administrative Procedure Act, 63 Duke Law Journal 1673-1715 (2014)
Available at: http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol63/iss8/3