Assuming the stockbroker is conducting his business on a cash basis, the IRS will most likely not look into the value of his or her book of business directly, however; they may consider the value with respect to the ability to earn going forward. The argument against considering the “value” of the book might be that the IRS cannot value a service business having little or no assets when the source of the taxpayer’s income is the service business and was used to calculate monthly disposable income (“MDI”).