Jacob Kay Lasser

Background

Jacob Kay Lasser was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Morris Lasser, a grocer, and Rebecca Traub Lasser, both of whom had emigrated from Austria-Hungary in the 1880's.

Education

From 1915 to 1917 Lasser studied accounting at New York University. Later he studied mechanical and industrial engineering at Pennsylvania State College, receiving the B. S. in 1920 and the M. S. in 1923. He took additional accounting courses in evening classes at New York University in preparation for the New York and New Jersey certified public accountant's examinations, which he passed in 1921. He was later certified in Illinois and California.

Career

Lasser started to work as a bookkeeper in a manufacturing plant. During World War I he served in the navy as a petty officer checking government contracts. Upon his discharge he joined a New York law firm as a junior accountant. Having reputedly memorized the regulations of the Revenue Act of 1916, Lasser was hired as a tax consultant by United Publishers Corporation, publishers of trade journals. The company was then involved in litigation intended to demonstrate that the federal income taxes levied against it were discriminatory. As a result of his study of United's tax problems Lasser became an expert on taxes related to the publishing industry.

The obvious demand for this specialized knowledge led him to form his own firm, J. K. Lasser and Company, in 1924. The Lasser firm at first devoted itself almost exclusively to advising publishing companies and, in the absence of serious competition in this field, it grew quickly in both scope and reputation. In the next three decades, during which Lasser was its senior partner, the firm expanded its functions and came to be widely recognized as the leading authority on all financial aspects of publishing.

In 1938 Lasser accepted an invitation from Leon Shimkin of Simon and Schuster (who became Lasser's good friend) to write a layman's tax guide, which appeared as Your Income Tax. The book was notable for its simple language--it contained no sentence of more than twelve words and few words of more than three syllables. More than 13, 000, 000 copies were sold by the time of Lasser's death. (Later editions, written according to Lasser's formula, have continued to be the best-selling layman's income tax guides. )

In 1942 Lasser pioneered university-level tax education when he founded the Institute of Federal Taxation for attorneys and accountants at New York University; he served as chairman, with the rank of adjunct professor, until his death. He reportedly considered the establishment of the institute to be his greatest accomplishment. The popularity of his graduate seminars inspired other American universities to offer similar programs. From 1946 through 1949 Lasser was chairman of the University of Miami school of taxation and lectured annually at its conference on taxation. He served as chairman of the school of taxation at Pennsylvania State University between 1947 and 1950, and in 1948 he was chosen president of the Tax Institute of Princeton, New Jersey, a nonprofit organization engaged in research and educational programs in the area of public finance.

While writing and lecturing, Lasser continued to guide the growth of J. K. Lasser and Company, which at the time of his death was providing auditing and tax services for approximately 500 clients, mostly book and magazine publishers and related businesses. The simplified income tax form (only three blanks) that Lasser created in 1947 for the state of Vermont was adopted after being expanded to ten blanks. He died in New York City.

Achievements

• Lasser lived during an era of great expansion in the taxing power of the United States government. He was instrumental in simplifying the language of tax codes and regulations, and through his writings and lectures he contributed to the education of a generation of tax lawyers and accountants. The Journal of Accountancy credited him with "establishing the solid position of the Certified Public Accountant in tax practice" and with increasing the prestige of the tax accountant. Lasser's book "Your Income Tax" became a bestseller. This slender volume provided step-by-step guidance to a growing number of taxpayers in the preparation of federal income tax returns. He was also the founder of the Institute of Federal Taxation for attorneys and accountants at New York University.

Works

More photos

• book

  • How to Run a Small Business

    (Business)

  • Standard handbook for accountants: A modern encyclopedia of auditing, cost control, management, systems design, forecasting, operation of the accounting ... of business planning (McGraw;Hill handbooks)
  • Business Management Handbook
  • J.K Lasser's Executive's Guide to Business Procedures
  • How tax laws make giving to charity easy,: A check list of Federal tax aids for the solicitor and the giver

Connections

On January 1, 1924, Lasser married Terese Rubin, daughter of a Brooklyn designer. They had two children.

Father:

Morris Lasser

Grocer

Mother:

Rebecca Traub Lasser

Spouse:

Terese Rubin

Friend:

Leon Shimkin