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Gross Income Defined As ‘All Income From Whatever Source Derived’

1955

In Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., the U.S. Supreme Court finds that earnings from a lawsuit (i.e., recovery of punitive damages for fraud or antitrust violations) is taxable income under the tax code. In a companion case, the Court also holds that money that a taxpayer receives from illegal “insider trading” on the stock market is also taxable gross income. The Court finds that Congress intended to treat any monetary gains as taxable unless specifically excluded by law.