University of
O’Quinn Law Library
Researching Federal Income Tax Law
_____________________________________________________________
Introduction to the Research Guide
Researching federal income tax law involves a variety of sources and there are several approaches that can be used. Legal Research by tax practitioners should involve becoming familiar with the Internal Revenue Code or at least comfortable finding the relevant code sections. After finding the appropriate code section it is important to find the corresponding treasury regulation for further guidance. Case law can interpret difficult to understand code sections. 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 released because of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are non authoritative.
___________________________________________________________
Primary Sources
A. Internal Revenue Code
The Internal Revenue Code 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 Federal Collection)
(KF62.U5 Federal Collection)
(KF62.U6
Federal Collection)
(KF6276.S26.A19I57)
B. Treasury Regulations
Treasury Regulations are designed to interpret the internal revenue code. 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 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).
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 Announced as Treasury
Decisions in the following Sources: Federal Register Internal Revenue Bulletin Cumulative Bulletin |
|
Proposed |
Federal Register |
|
Temporary |
Code of Federal Regulations Federal Register Internal Revenue Bulletin Cumulative Bulletin |
|
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 pay 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. Despite this 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 $10,000) under IRC § 7463. These began in 2001 are all available at http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/
2. Locating Tax Cases
Tax Case |
Official Reporter |
Unofficial Reporter |
Tax Court Regular |
(KF6324.A512) (KF6324.A513) |
CCH Tax Court Reporter (vol. 2)(KF6324.A515) RIA Tax Court Reports (RIA Checkpoint Database) |
Tax Court Memorandum |
There is no official reporter |
CCH Tax Court Reporter (vol. 1) (KF6324.A515) |
|
Federal Supplement (F.Supp., F. Supp 2d) (KF120.F4 2d) |
American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR) (KF6324.A5142) (RIA Checkpoint
Database) |
|
(KF125 .C6)
|
American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR) (KF6324.A5142) (RIA Checkpoint
Database) |
|
Federal Reporter (F.; F.2d; F.3d) (KF105.F4 2d) |
American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR) (KF6324.A5142) (RIA Checkpoint
Database) |
|
|
American Federal Tax Reports (AFTR) (KF6324.A5142) (RIA Checkpoint
Database) |
*Note: 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)
D. Administrative Decisions
In addition to the statutes, regulations, and case law there are a number of administrative materials available from the I.R.S. 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 most of these materials are only accessible because of the Freedom of Information Act. Researching online databases is the best method of finding many of these materials.
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 |
F. Legislative History
The Law library contains a number of compiled legislative histories on major tax acts as well as the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.).
(KF6222.120.A15
1989)
(KF6275.99)
(KF6276.S26.A19I57)
The LexisNexis Congressional
Database will allow you to conduct more detailed and general 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. HeinOnline and LexisNexis
Congressional are accessible through the terminals at the Law Library or
through VPN access.
_____________________________________________________________
Secondary Sources
A. Practice Guides
Practice Guides such as the Federal Standard Tax Reporter include editorial analysis and annotations to the Treasury Regulations, cases, and administrative decisions.
1. Arranged by Code Section
(KF6366.C65)
(RIA
Checkpoint Database)
(KF6571.A8C65)
2. Arranged by Subject
(RIA Checkpoint Database)
B. Handbooks
Handbooks provide convenient source of information for tax practitioner. They summarize almost every federal tax topic and contain a variety of charts. These are not meant for extensive research but are designed for quick information.
(RIA Checkpoint)
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)
(KF6462.B5 1995 Reserve)
(KF6369.B53 3d Reserve)
(KF6369.P67 2005 Reserve)
(KF6572.F42
Reserve)
(KF6297.A45 L513-KF6297.A45 L5643)
D. Nutshells
Nutshells published by Thomson West are similar to hornbooks but are more concise.
(KF 6465.S58 2003 5th ed. Reserve)
(KF
6369.3.M35 2004 Reserve)
(KF 6452.Z9
B87 2005 Reserve)
(KF6419.Z9D64 2007 Reserve)
E. Periodical Indexes
The periodical indexes provide a way to locate articles law reviews, journals, and other periodicals.
(KF6335.A6 C65)
(RIA 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.
(K10.O87)
(KF6272.T39)
(KF6365.B872)
(available on BNA Tax and Accounting Database)
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 34a.
H. Dictionaries
Tax dictionaries are useful given that they contain tax specific terms that cannot be found elsewhere
I. 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 explanation of recently enacted tax statutes.
(KF6355.5.G46 2007)
_____________________________________________________________
International Tax
International tax largely focuses on bilateral tax treaties and conventions. Often the tax treaties will deal with preventing double taxation and hiding assets offshore to avoid paying taxes.
(KF6306.R48)
(KF6419.I83 2005)
(KF6419.B495 2006)
____________________________________________________________
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)
School of
Mary
(KF6289.A2
T3)
Tax Conference
(KF6289.A2 T8)
Mertens Federal
Income Tax is located in the M.D. Anderson library and is also available on Westlaw.
_____________________________________________________________
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. 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 indexes and databases page. Westlaw and LexisNexis can be
accessed directly through their website using issued passwords.
A. RIA Checkpoint (http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/indexes.htm)
1. Features
2. Sources
Editorial Materials
Primary Source Materials
Archive Materials
B. LexisNexis (Taxation)
1. Primary Sources
2. Treatises
3. Taxation Research Tasks
C. BNA Tax and Accounting (Tax Management Portfolios)
(http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/indexes.htm)
1. Expert Analysis (Tax
Portfolios)
2. Primary Sources
E. Westlaw
1. Primary Sources
2. Tax Tab Feature
F. Tax Analysts Web Services (http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/indexes.htm)
1. Tax Analysts Web Services 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 from1987 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. 3rd ed. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 2006
Compiled by Christopher C. Dykes,
Reference/Research Librarian