[19980304]98-189_烟草广告：限制其税收减免的合宪性.pdf

Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS Web98-189 AMarch 4, 1998Tobacco Advertising: The Constitutionality ofLimiting its Tax Deductibility(name redacted)Legislative AttorneyAmerican Law DivisionSummaryUnder the Internal Revenue Code, advertising is ordinarily deductible as a businessexpense. 26 U.S.C. 162. It has been proposed, however, that the deductibility of thecost of advertising tobacco products be limited or eliminated. Since advertising is a formof speech, this raises the question of whether such a limitation would violate theprovision of the First Amendment that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging thefreedom of speech, or of the press . . . .” We conclude that it apparently would not. Asadvertising is commercial speech, it is not entitled to the same level of First Amendmentprotection as other speech, and to make it more expensive by limiting its tax deductibilitywould apparently not violate the Central Hudson test that the Supreme Court applies indetermining whether governmental restrictions on commercial speech are constitutional.Tax Deductions and Free SpeechThe Supreme Court has held that Congress i