Gross income is the term used by the Internal Revenue Service to define revenue or income. Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code (Chapter 26 of the Federal Code) defines the term and what is considered gross income.
If you received a 1099-C, the first question you ask is: ‘Do I have to include this in my taxable income?’ Well, the answer is ‘it depends’. Not what you want to hear but there are a lot of variables involved in answering this question.
The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives authority to Congress to tax income. The Internal Revenue Service defines revenue via a term ‘Gross Income’. In Chapter 26 of the Federal Code (Chapter 26 is the Internal Revenue Code) Section 61, Congress defines gross income as “… all income from whatever source derived…”. This means even the penny you pick up off the ground is considered income.
