Leonard Greene and Joyce Greene v. United States

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

This appeal in a tax case concerns those portions of the Internal Revenue Code that govern the tax treatment of regulated futures contracts. The personal income taxation system generally operates on a “cash basis,” which means that it usually requires gains to be recognized — or losses to be claimed — when property is sold and money or property is received in exchange. See 26 U.S.C. § 1001 (1994). The cash basis accounting system applies to the sale of nearly all forms of property, including real estate and most securities. But for the taxation of regulated futures…