Child Care Expense Deduction-A Decision Tree Application.
Abstract Decision tree, critical path or logical fan notations are becoming more and more recognized as useful tools for communicating complex issues. This is particularly true as the current generation of students matures with some introduction to these techniques, as well as to computer flow-charting and programming, which is but another notation of the same logical approach. Taxation, of course, offers numerous complex concepts, the teaching of which can be greatly aided by logical diagrams. One wonders why complex sections of the law itself are not defined in such a manner instead of in the traditional legalistic gobbledygook. The use of such diagrams for, as one example, child and disabled dependent care expense deductions either as a transparency projection or as a mimeographed handout can greatly improve the communication problems in taxation lectures. The diagram in this article has been used successfully in presenting this complex personal deduction. According to the diagram as represented in the article, a man is a widower if his wife has died and he has not remarried, he is divorced and has not remarried, or he is legally separated from his wife under separation decree. A wife is incapacitated if she is either mentally or physically incapable of taking care of herself or institutionalized for at least 90 consecutive days or until her death, if earlier.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-4484129
- Volume
- 45 (1)
- Pages
- 143-145
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- openalex crossref