University of Houston Law Center
O’Quinn Law Library
Researching Federal Income
Tax Law
_____________________________________________________________
Introduction
Researching federal income tax law involves using a variety
of sources and can be approached using various methods. Legal research by tax
practitioners should, include becoming familiar with the Internal Revenue Code
to the extent of at least being able to locate relevant code sections. After
obtaining the appropriate code section, it is important to be able to find any
corresponding treasury regulations that have been issued for the particular
code section for further guidance. Case law can interpret the code, and
administrative decisions can also be helpful but vary with respect to authority
depending on the type of document. Documents that are intended for release to
the public, such as Revenue Rulings or Revenue Procedures, are usually binding
whereas documents that are available because of the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) are usually non authoritative. Those researching in the area of tax law
may find it more useful to use secondary sources such as treatises, handbooks,
and practice guides in order to get an overview of a specialized area of tax.
However, tax practitioners must be able to master using the primary sources
including the code, regulations, case law, rulings and procedures, and
administrative decisions in order to effectively research federal income tax
law.
_____________________________________________________________________
Secondary Sources
A. Practice Guides
Practice Guides such as the Standard Federal Tax Reporter include editorial analysis and annotations to the Treasury Regulations, cases, and administrative decisions.
1. Arranged by Code Section
(KF6366.C65)
(Thomson
Reuters Checkpoint)
(KF6571.A8C65)
2. Arranged by Subject
(Thomson Reuters Checkpoint)
(Thomson Reuters Checkpoint, KF6571.A8
E88)
(Westlaw)
B. Handbooks
Handbooks provide a convenient source of information for the tax practitioner. They summarize almost every federal tax topic and contain a variety of tables and charts, changes to forms, and list of due dates. These are not meant for extensive research but are designed for quick information.
· Federal Tax Guide (2015) (Bloomberg BNA) (KF6301.A329B57)
· Federal Tax Handbook (2016)
·
(KF6289.R523) (Thomson
Reuters Checkpoint)
·
U.S. Master Tax Guide (2016) (KF6370.C65)
·
U.S. Master Estate and Gift Tax Guide (2016) (KF6572.Z9F4)
·
U.S. Master Multistate Corporate Tax Guide
(2016) (KF6465.Z95U15)
·
U.S. Property Tax Guide (2016) (KF6759.A15U195)
C. Hornbooks/Treatises
Treatises and Hornbooks are ideal for legal research These are useful because they provide an overview of different areas of tax law and include annotations to statutes, cases, and administrative decisions for further research.
(KF6289.A1T35)
(available on BloombergLaw.com and Bloomberg BNA’s Tax and Accounting
Center)
(KF6462.B5 1995, Reserve) (available on Thomson Reuters Checkpoint)
(KF6369.B53 3d, Reserve) (available on Thomson Reuters Checkpoint)
(KF6369.P67 2005, Reserve) (available on Thomson Reuters Checkpoint)
(KF6572.F42
8th) (available on Thomson Reuters Checkpoint)
D. Nutshells
Nutshells published by Thomson West are similar to hornbooks but are more concise.
(KF 6465.S58 2014 7th ed., Reserve/Reference)
(KF
6369.3.M3 2012, Reserve/Reference)
(KF 6452.B87
2013, Reserve/Reference)
(KF6419.D64 2012, Reserve/Reference)
E. Periodical Indexes
The periodical indexes provide a way to locate articles in law reviews, journals, and other periodicals.
(KF6335.A6 C65)
(Thomson
Reuters Checkpoint)
F. Tax Journals and Periodicals
There are numerous periodicals such as law reviews and journals that address topics and issues important in the tax area.
(available on BNA Tax and Accounting Center)
(KF6272.T39) (available on BNA Tax and
Accounting Center)
(K6.L673)
(K8.O845)
(K10.O87)
(K24.A84)
(K24.A96)
(Tax Notes Daily available on TaxNotes.com)
(K24.A954)
(K24.A97)
G. Legal Encyclopedias
Legal encyclopedias can be a good starting point for legal research and contain numerous discussions of the law on different subjects. These subjects are arranged alphabetically.
The topic “Federal Taxation” is found in Volumes 33 through 34B.
H. Dictionaries
Tax dictionaries are useful given that they contain tax specific terms.
J. Joint Committee on Taxation
The Joint Committee on Taxation is a non-legislative committee that works with counsel from the standing committees in the House and Senate in drafting statutes and legislative history. The Joint Committee’s Blue Book, published annually, provides explanations of recently enacted tax statutes.
K. Study Guides/Outlines
(KF6465.B557 2010, reserve)
(KF6369.C43 2015, reserve)
(KF6465.K35 2010, study aids)
(KF6450.S39 2015, study aids)
___________________________________________________________
Primary Sources
A. Internal Revenue Code
The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) is a compilation of tax statutes arranged by subject and is located under title 26 of the United States Code (U.S.C.). The Code is the foundation of all tax law and is the most authoritative source. The code is not very popular given that it is very difficult to interpret and use.
(KF62.A2)
(KF62.U5)
(KF62.U6)
(KF6276.526.A19I57)
B. Treasury Regulations
Treasury Regulations are designed to interpret the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). They are issued by the Department of Treasury with the intent of providing guidance to the code. Final Treasury Regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and announced in the Federal Register as Treasury Decisions. Treasury Decisions are also announced in the Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin.
1. There are three types of regulations
Proposed: Treasury Regulations typically go through a minimum 30 day notice and comment period. During this period professional organizations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the American Bar Association (ABA) can review the proposed regulations and make comments and suggestions for changes. Proposed regulations are not considered to be binding until they are finalized.
Final: Final regulations are authoritative as long as they are “reasonable and consistent interpretations” of the code. Once final regulations are issued, they are announced in the Federal Register and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The CFR is also available from the Government Printing Office’s new Federal Digital System (FDsys) at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/.
Temporary: Temporary Regulations are regulations that are issued for a maximum period of three years. During this three year period the regulations are as authoritative as the final regulations.
2. Using the Treasury Regulations with the Internal Revenue
Code
Given the fact that the Treasury Regulations are designed to interpret the Internal Revenue Code, they are issued in conjunction with the code. Consequently, almost every section of the code has at least one corresponding treasury regulation that is issued for that specific code section. Therefore, it is important to find the relevant code section first and then find the treasury regulations that were issued and look at both the code section and regulations together.
3. Finding the Treasury Regulations
The final, temporary, and proposed regulations are first announced in the Federal Register. The final and temporary regulations are listed as Treasury Decisions (T.D.s) in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB), a weekly newsletter issued by the Internal Revenue Service and eventually compiled into the Cumulative Bulletin semi-annually. The final and temporary regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations.
The following chart will provide information on where to locate the regulations:
Regulations |
Source |
Sample Citation |
Final |
Code of Federal Regulations (KF70.A3) Announced as
Treasury Decisions in the following Sources: Federal Register (KF70.A2) Internal Revenue Bulletin/ Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) |
26 CFR 1.221-1 Treas. Reg. 1.221-1 |
Proposed |
Federal Register (KF70.A2) |
Prop. Reg. 1.199-3 |
Temporary |
Code of Federal Regulations (KF70.A3) Federal Register (KF70.A2) Internal Revenue Bulletin/ Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) |
Temp. Reg. 1.62-1 Treas. Reg. 1.62-1T |
The law library has the Federal Tax Regulations volumes (KF6301.A4) published annually by West.
C. Case Law
Looking at case law is very important in tax research, given that there are issues that the code and regulations may not have adequately addressed. Tax cases can originate from three different courts, including the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Most cases are filed in the U.S. Tax Court, given the fact that any disputed amount between the IRS and the individual taxpayer does not have to be paid until the matter is resolved. Should the taxpayer decide to file with the other two courts any disputed amount owed would have to be satisfied prior to filing with the court. Tax cases are filed with the U.S. District Court because it provides the right to a jury trial, whereas the U.S. Tax Court does not provide this. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims is the court where tax cases are least likely to be filed given that it does not provide the right to a jury trial and disputed amounts must be settled prior to filing with the court. Regardless of court of origin, it is important to remember that tax cases can be appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.
1. Types of Tax Court Cases
Regular Tax Court Decisions
These decisions deal with substantive tax matters, usually where there is a dispute between the IRS and the taxpayer regarding the code. This is often an area that has not been addressed by the courts.
Tax Court Memorandum Decisions
These are cases where there is no disagreement about the law, but there is a dispute between the Internal Revenue Service and the taxpayer with respect to factual issues.
Tax Court Summary Opinions
These are small cases (involving less than $50,000) under IRC § 7463. These are available beginning in 2001 at http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/.
2. Locating Tax Cases
Tax Case |
Official Reporter |
Unofficial Reporter |
Tax Court Regular |
(KF6324.A512) U.S. Tax Court Reports (1943-2015) (KF6324.A513) |
CCH Tax Court Reporter (vol. 2)(KF6324.A515) RIA Tax Court Reports (Thomson Reuters Checkpoint) |
Tax Court Memorandum |
There is no official reporter |
CCH Tax Court Reporter (vol. 1) (KF6324.A515) CCH Tax Court Memorandum Decisions |
|
Federal Supplement (F.Supp., F. Supp 2d)* |
United States Tax Cases** (USTC) (KF6324.A514) American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR)** *(KF6324.A5142) (Thomson Reuters
Checkpoint) |
|
(KF125 .C6)* |
United States Tax Cases** (USTC) (KF6324.A514) American Federal Tax Reports(AFTR)** (KF6324.A5142)
(Thomson Reuters Checkpoint) |
|
Federal Reporter (F.; F.2d; F.3d)* |
United States Tax Cases** (USTC) (KF6324.A514) American Federal Tax Reports(AFTR)*** (KF6324.A5142) (Thomson Reuters
Checkpoint) |
|
United States Reporter (U.S.) (KF101.A2), Lexis’ U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’
ed. (KF101.L3),
West’s Supreme Court Reporter (KF101.S8)* |
United States Tax Cases** (USTC) (KF6324.A514) American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR)*** (KF6324.A5142) (Thomson Reuters Checkpoint) |
*Westlaw has the cases in the original format from the West print reporters. The full text of federal tax cases is available on Lexis, Westlaw and Thompson Reuters Checkpoint.
**The United States Tax Cases are published by CCH. The
latest cases can be found in the U.S. Tax Cases Advance Sheets volume of the
Standard Federal Tax Reporter (KF6366.C65).
***The O’Quinn Law Library has the archived American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR) until 1995. Thomson Reuters Checkpoint database contains current cases from this reporter.
D. Administrative Decisions
In addition to the statutes, regulations, and case law there are a number of administrative materials available from the IRS that a tax practitioner will need to utilize. The Revenue Rulings and Procedures will often refer to issues not adequately addressed by the code, regulations, or case law. While some of these materials including the IRS announcements and notices are purposely made available to the public, other materials are only accessible because of the Freedom of Information Act. Researching online databases is the best method of finding many of these materials. NOTE: The Cumulative Bulletins are now available from Hein Online and free on the Government Publishing Office’s FDsys database (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/)
TYPE |
SAMPLE CITATION |
SOURCE |
Revenue Rulings |
Rev. Rul. 2005-74 |
Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) |
Revenue Procedures |
Rev. Proc. 2003-77 |
Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) |
Treasury Decisions |
T.D. 6796 |
Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) Federal Register |
Private Letter Ruling |
PLR 200712006 |
Online Databases |
Technical Advisory Memoranda (TAM) |
Technical Advice Memoranda 200240001 |
Online Databases |
IRS Announcement/notices |
Announcement 2003-8, 2005-5 IRB 12 Notice 2003-1; 2003-1 C.B. 257 |
Internal Revenue Bulletin/ Cumulative Bulletin (KF6301.A42) |
Actions on Decisions |
A.O.D. 1993-001 |
Online Databases |
Chief Counsel Advice and Notices |
_____________ |
Online Databases |
General Counsel Memoranda |
G.C.M. (39783) |
Online Databases |
Field Service Advice Memoranda |
FSA 2000-31-033 |
Online Databases |
Internal Revenue Manual |
_____________ |
Online Databases CCH Internal Revenue Manual (KF6301.A6C66) |
IRS Publications |
IRS Publication 216 |
Online Databases IRS Web site |
E. Legislative History
The law library contains a number of compiled legislative histories on major tax acts, which contain committee hearing transcripts, committee reports, and bills among other documents.
(KF6276.5566.A15 1991--KF6276.562.A15
1995)
The ProQuest Congressional
Database can be used for comprehensive legislative history research. The law
library contains the CIS Congressional Information Services documents in
microfiche (1970-2004), and Congressional Record debate in print and on the HeinOnline database. Congress.gov (https://www.congress.gov/) and GPO’s
Federal Digital System (FDsys) (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/) provide more
current legislative documents. HeinOnline and
ProQuest Congressional are accessible through the terminals at the Law Library
or through VPN access.
_____________________________________________________________
International Tax
International tax largely focuses on bilateral tax treaties and model tax conventions. Often the tax treaties will deal with preventing double taxation and hiding assets offshore to avoid paying taxes.
(KF6306.R48)
(KF6306.C65)
(KF6419.I83 2005)
(KF6419.B49 2008)
____________________________________________________________
Tax Policy Institutes
These are annual tax institutes that publish the papers of tax scholars on a variety of tax topics.
(KF6289.A2S69)
(KF6289.A2N3)
(KF6274.I95)
(KF6289.A2
T3)
Tax Conference
(KF6289.A2 T8)
_____________________________________________________________
Tax Research
The following resources are helpful for those who wish to further explore federal income tax research:
(KF240.L43 v. 55 Reference)
(KF241.T38K37, Reference)
(KF241.T38 L37 2011)
(KF6289.A1T35, available on BloombergLaw.com and BNA Tax and Accounting Center)
_____________________________________________________________
Online Databases
The law library subscribes
to a number of databases that provides information in the area of tax law in
addition to the information available on Westlaw and LexisNexis. Thomson
Reuters Checkpoint (formerly RIA Checkpoint), BNA Tax and Accounting, and Tax
Analysts can be accessed through the Law Library’s Virtual Private
Network (VPN) on the Law Library’s web site under Legal Databases.
Westlaw and LexisNexis can be accessed directly through their website using
issued passwords.
A. Thomson Reuters Checkpoint (http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/)
1. Features
2. Sources
Editorial Materials
Primary Source Materials
Archive Materials
B. Lexis Advance
1. Primary Sources
2. Treatises
3. Lexis Advance Tax
Lexis Advance Tax is a new tool, available on Lexis Advance, which allows the user to search for primary and secondary sources of tax law all from the same page. This is accessible by clicking the downward arrow at the top left of the main Lexis Advance search page and clicking “Lexis Advance Tax.” Users can also easily locate various tax documents with a citation by using the “Get a Document” tab from the Lexis Advance tax page.
C. Bloomberg
BNA Tax and Accounting Center (Tax Management Portfolios)
1. Expert Analysis (Tax
Portfolios)
2. News/Current Awareness
3. Primary Sources
D. Bloomberg Law
NOTE: All law
students and faculty now have access to the Bloomberg Law database, by visiting
http://about.bloomberglaw.com/
and clicking “Register for a Law School
Account.” Fill out the information including your “UH” e-mail
address.
You will be sent a userid and password for access.
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
Bloomberg Law contains a tax practice page by selecting the “Practice Centers” tab at the top of the main page and then selecting “tax” from the drop-down menu.
This will make primary and secondary tax sources available on Bloomberg Law.
E. Westlaw
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
3. Tax Resources Page
the primary and secondary sources available on Westlaw.
4. Tax Practice Page
F. TaxNotes.com
(http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/)
NOTE: University of Houston Law Center faculty, staff, and students will need to register for access to Taxnotes.com by visiting tax notes.com. You will need to log on either using the law library’s VPN or use your computer on campus when accessing this database for the first time. Afterward, you will be able to access this from home, without using the VPN.
1. TaxNotes.com provides federal, state, and international tax news, financial news as well as information on tax treaties. Our subscription includes electronic access to Tax Analysts Tax Notes Today, Financial Reporting Watch, State Tax Notes Today, Worldwide Tax Daily, and International Tax Treaties.
2. Tax Notes Today provides the latest federal income tax news. You can search current news and archives from 1987 until present. Search features include finding articles by code section and subject area. Commentary and analysis can be searched by author, subject, or title of the article.
3. Financial Reporting Watch provides current financial news, tax disclosures by company and industry, and includes an archival search feature.
4. State Tax Today provides access to the most current state tax news from all fifty states. You can search articles by state and subject area. Contents and highlights from the current edition are available as well as the archives from 1987 until present.
5. Worldwide Tax Daily includes tax news from around the world
and will allow you to find news by nation and subject area. Worldwide Tax
Treaties features a quick treaty locator and will enable you to select from
different nations and locate tax treaties available. You can search for all
types of treaties between the
____________________________________________________________
SOURCE
Karlin, Barbara. Tax Research. 4th ed. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 2009.
Compiled by Chris Dykes,
Reference/Research Librarian
Updated August 27, 2016