Claim of Right Doctrine Law and Legal Definition
Claim of right doctrine is a principle of taxation that causes a taxpayer to recognize income if s/he receives the income even though they do not have a fixed right to the income. For an income to come within the purview of the doctrine, the income should be qualified and must contain a receipt of cash or property that ordinarily constitutes income rather than loans or gifts or deposits that are returnable. This doctrine has currently become a source of abuse attempted by taxpayers seeking to evade paying their income tax by claiming that they do not have a right to the income.
