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Federal Tax Law Research

Introduction

Federal tax law research can be very complex because of the numerous primary and secondary sources available to a tax law researcher. This guide seeks to describe the most important of those sources and to provide a starting point for the beginning tax law researcher. It focuses on tax looseleaf services, federal tax laws, regulations and cases, as well as other primary materials that are issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It provides call numbers and links to the Hollis records for materials located in the Harvard Law School Library and links to Westlaw and Lexis databases. This guide also provides information on databases within CCH Tax Research NetWork and RIA Checkpoint, online services available through the Harvard Law School Network and at many law firms. Using these databases is usually free at law firms, so they may provide a good alternative to using Westlaw and Lexis.

As always, before using fee-based online resources such as Westlaw and Lexis, be sure to know your firm's policies on using them. In addition, when using fee-based online resources, it is cost-effective to use the database related to your topic that is narrowest in scope. Click on the following link to see a list of Westlaw tax databases in chart format, on the following link for Lexis materials concerning tactics for tax law research, and on the following link to see Lexis' Tax Law Research Tasks page, which can help point you to appropriate Lexis tax law databases.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to click on the links taking you to Westlaw or Lexis search screens, you must "sign off" the database before hitting the Back icon on your browser to return to this guide. If you neglect to do so, you will remain signed on and may accrue charges.

To access information contained within this guide, click on the appropriate link in the outline below.

I. Tax Looseleaf Services
II. Federal Tax Legislation: Internal Revenue Code
III. Legislative History
IV. Tax Treaties
V. Treasury Regulations: Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register
VI. Tax Cases
VII. IRS Documents
A. Officially Published Documents
B. Publicly Released IRS Documents
VIII. Additional Resources

I. Tax Looseleaf Services

A good place to start tax research is in a tax looseleaf service. The tax looseleafs are helpful because they combine the current version of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") and the IRS Regulations with detailed explanations and analysis of the IRC and Regulations and case annotations. Click on the following links for information on using and citing tax looseleaf services.

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II. Federal Tax Legislation: Internal Revenue Code (United States Code Title 26)

Prior to 1939, Congress passed tax laws in the form of a series of self-contained revenue acts. In 1939, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, which was the first wholly organized federal tax law. The Internal Revenue Code has been reorganized twice: in 1954 and in 1986. The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC), as amended, contains the existing federal tax law and is codified in Title 26 of the United States Code. The IRC contains most of the statutes pertaining to income, estate and gift, excise and employment taxes. The IRC is divided into eleven subtitles, which are each further subdivided. Click on the following links for information on locating, updating, and citing sections of the IRC.

Depending on when your controversy arose, you may need to locate prior versions of the tax laws. For example, for a tax event occurring in 1985, the controlling law would be the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended. Click on the following link for information on locating historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code.

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III. Legislative History

The documents that make up the legislative history of a tax statute, including bills, committee reports, hearings, and floor debates, are helpful in interpreting provisions of a statute and in determining Congress’ intent in passing a statute. In order to compile a legislative history, you must collect and read many of the documents produced in the course of a tax bill becoming law. Click on the following link to learn more about the legislative process for most tax bills and the documents produced during that process.

Click on the following links for information on locating and citing tax legislative history materials. Because searching for tax legislative history materials requires the use of many specialized sources, we recommend that you call the Harvard Law School Library Reference Desk ((617) 495-4516) for additional assistance in your research.

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IV. Tax Treaties

If a taxpayer has ties to both the United States and another country, or is a resident of a foreign country, you should determine whether any tax treaties apply. Tax treaties between countries, also referred to as tax conventions, seek to eliminate or reduce double taxation. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing tax treaties. If you determine that a treaty applies, you should also check to see if there are any Treasury Regulations that interpret the treaty. See the following section for information on Treasury Regulations. In general, regulations under tax treaties are located in Subchapter G of Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

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V. Treasury Regulations: Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register

The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), a division of the Treasury Department, issues tax regulations, officially known as Treasury Regulations. Its regulations are the Treasury Department’s official interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code. The IRS issues three types of regulations: final, temporary and proposed. Final regulations provide legally binding guidance. Temporary regulations are effective upon publication in the Federal Register and may be valid for no more than three years from their date of issuance. Proposed regulations do not become effective until after comments and testimony have been received and reviewed and a final version of the regulations have been issued.

Temporary and final regulations are initially published as Treasury Decisions (“TD”). TD's include an explanatory preamble, which can be a great source for research. TD's as well as proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register. Final and temporary regulations are later codified in Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R."), however, the explanatory preambles are not published in the C.F.R. Click on the following links for information on locating, updating, and citing tax regulations. For general information on the Federal Register and the C.F.R. click on the following link to view a guide on Administrative Law.

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VI. Tax Cases

Three federal trial-level courts have jurisdiction over tax disputes: the United States Tax Court, the United States District Courts, and the United States Court of Federal Claims. The United States Courts of Appeals are generally the highest appellate-level courts to hear tax cases because the United States Supreme Court hears very few tax cases.

The United States Tax Court

The United States Tax Court, a specialized court that hears only federal tax cases, issues two types of decisions: regular (or reported) decisions and memorandum decisions. Regular decisions concern new areas of tax law or new interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code. Memorandum decisions concern interpretations of facts, not law, and are not officially published. (Beginning in 2001, the Tax Court also issues summary opinions in small cases involving disputes of $50,000 or less. I will not discuss these opinions further because they may not be used as precedent.) The Tax Court is generally a good forum for litigating technical tax issues because tax court judges are tax law specialists. Jury trials are not available in the Tax Court, and the taxpayer need not pay the disputed taxes before instituting litigation. Click on the following link for information on locating regular and memorandum Tax Court decisions.

Before 1943, the United States Tax Court was known as the Board of Tax Appeals, which was in existence from 1924 to 1943. The Board of Tax Appeals also issued both reported and memorandum decisions. Click on the following link for information on locating regular and memorandum Board of Tax Appeals decisions.

The United States District Courts

The United States District Courts’ jurisdiction over tax cases is generally limited to tax refund claims and criminal tax cases. The taxpayer is expected to pay the disputed tax debt before filing suit. The District Court is the only court with tax jurisdiction in which the taxpayer can request a jury trial. Click on the following link for information on locating United States District Court Tax opinions.

The United States Court of Federal Claims

The Court of Federal Claims hears cases involving monetary claims against the federal government. Approximately one quarter of the cases before the Court involve tax refund suits, an area in which the Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the United States District Courts. As with the District Courts, the taxpayer is expected to pay the disputed tax debt prior to filing suit. A taxpayer does not have the right to a jury trial in the Court of Federal Claims. Appeals from the Court of Federal Claims are to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal District. From 1982 to 1992, the Court was called the United States Claims Court, and from 1956 to 1982, the United States Court of Claims. Click on the following link for information on locating United States Court of Federal Claims opinions.

The United States Courts of Appeals

The United States Courts of Appeals hear appeals from the trial courts discussed above: the United States Tax Court, the United States District Courts, and the United States Court of Federal Claims. The United States Supreme Court hears very few tax cases, and, therefore, the Appeals Courts are often the highest court that most tax cases will reach. It is important to update tax cases in one of the ways discussed on the page linked to below so that you will be aware of any cases appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Click on the following link for information on locating United States Courts of Appeals decisions.

Click on the following link for tips on locating tax cases that relate to a specific Code Section, Topic, CFR Part, or IRS Document.

Click on the following link for information on how to update tax cases.

Click on the following link for information on citing tax cases.

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VII. IRS Documents

A. Officially Published IRS Documents

The Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin

The IRS produces many documents, most of which are published in the weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB). The IRB has four main parts: the Code (which includes revenue rulings, final regulations, and Supreme Court tax decisions relating to the provisions of the IRC); Treaties and Tax Legislation (which includes treaties, tax legislation, and committee reports); Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous (which includes notices and revenue procedures); and Items of General Interest (which includes notices of proposed rulemakings and announcements). The IRB also publishes notices of IRS acquiescence or nonacquiescence of judicial decisions against the government. All of these types of documents have been discussed in previous sections of this guide or will be described below. The IRB is later compiled into the Cumulative Bulletin which is published twice per year. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing the IRB and the Cumulative Bulletin.

Revenue Rulings

Revenue Rulings are official interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations, issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in response to a taxpayer's request for clarification of the law. If the IRS decides that a ruling, an application of law to a certain set of facts, is of general interest, it will publish it in the IRB as a Revenue Ruling. If the ruling is not of general interest the IRS will issue a Private Letter Ruling, discussed in more detail below. Revenue Rulings have modest weight and can be relied on by a taxpayer whose factual situation is substantially similar to that described in a Revenue Ruling. Revenue Rulings, however, are not as authoritative as a Treasury Regulation, and, therefore, a conflicting Regulation trumps a Revenue Ruling. Revenue Rulings can be revoked, modified or become obsolete with the issuance of a future Revenue Ruling or Treasury Decision. Revenue Rulings contain several segments including: Purpose, Issue, Facts, Law and Analysis, Civil and Criminal Penalties, Holding and Drafting Information. Revenue Rulings are numbered with a two-part numbering system; the first number corresponds to the year and the second to the number of that ruling for that year in order of publication. Before 1953, Revenue Rulings had many different names including: Appeals and Review Memoranda, General Counsel’s Memoranda, Internal Revenue Mimeograph, Income Tax Unit Ruling, Law Opinion, and Office Decision. These can only be found in the Cumulative Bulletin. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing Revenue Rulings.

Revenue Procedures and Procedural Rules

Revenue Procedures and Procedural Rules are the official statements of the IRS on its internal practices and procedures. The Revenue Procedures are added to the Procedural Rules in 26 CFR Part 601. They are available in the IRB, the CB, in Westlaw at FTX-RP, and in Lexis at FEDTAX;CB. CCH's Standard Federal Tax Reporter contains annotations to Revenue Procedures in its compilation volumes following each IRC section. CCH's online product, CCH Tax Research NetWork, contains the text of Revenue Procedures in the Federal Tab in the "Rulings & Other Docs." section under Primary Sources. RIA's United States Tax Reporter contains annotations to Revenue Procedures in its compilation volumes following each IRC section. RIA's online product, RIA Checkpoint, contains the text of Revenue Procedures, which can be accessed via the "Rulings/IRB" section on the left side of the screen under Find By Citation, or by searching in the "IRS Rulings and Releases" database under the Primary Source Materials heading.

Click on the following link for information on citing Revenue Procedures and Procedural Rules.

Notices of Acquiescence or Nonacquiescence

These notices are important because they reveal whether the IRS will continue to litigate an issue it has lost in a judicial proceeding. An acquiescence describes why the IRS will not appeal and a nonacquiescence describes the reasons the IRS will appeal a judicial decision favorable to a taxpayer. Until 1993, the IRS issued the notices only for Tax Court Regular decisions, but now the IRS issues these notices for all trial and circuit courts. They are only available from 1981 forward and cannot be cited as precedent.

They are available in the IRB, the CB, in Lexis at FEDTAX;CB (this database contains acquiescence and nonacquiescence tables), in Westlaw at FTX-CB, in CCH’s Standard Federal Tax Reporter in the Rulings Section, and in RIA’s United States Tax Reporter in the IRS Rulings volume. In addition, citators indicate the existence of an acquiescence or nonacquiescence with a notation of A, Acq., N, or Nonacq. next to the case citation. Click on the following link for more information on locating these print citators.

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B. Publicly Released IRS Documents

The documents discussed below are helpful in determining the IRS' position on certain issues. The documents do not have precedential value and, therefore, should not generally be cited in court documents. Some of the documents may, however, constitute authority for avoiding the substantial underpayment penalty.

Private Letter Rulings

Private Letter Rulings (also known as Letter Rulings) are written by the national office of the IRS in response to taxpayer questions seeking guidance concerning the tax consequences of future transactions. They are only binding on the taxpayer to whom they are specifically addressed, and only he can rely on that ruling. They are not officially published and lack precedential value. Therefore, other taxpayers cannot cite to them. If the issue could affect many other taxpayers, the IRS may issue a Private Letter Ruling as a Revenue Ruling. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing Private Letter Rulings. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing Revenue Rulings.

Determination Letters

Determination Letters are similar to Private Letter Rulings, but they are issued by local offices of the IRS rather than the national office. They describe how tax law applies to a completed transaction. Local offices will only write Determination Letters if clear precedent and well-established rules apply to a transaction. If there is no clear precedent, the national office will handle the inquiry. Determination Letters are not published in the IRB; they are available in the Daily Tax Report, Tax Notes (KF 6272 .T39), in Lexis at FEDTAX;TXNMAG, and in CCH’s IRS Letter Rulings Reporter (KF 6289 .A353).

Technical Advice Memoranda

The national office of the IRS issues Technical Advice Memoranda (TAM) to local offices of the IRS to promote the consistent application of law to completed taxpayer transactions. TAMs are specific to a taxpayer and are usually written in connection with an audit or claim for refund. Although taxpayers can request that an issue be submitted to the national office, the local offices of the IRS decide whether or not to request a TAM from the national office. Like a judicial opinion, TAMs usually contain a restatement of the facts and discussions of precedent, reasoning and conclusions specific to the request. TAMs are not officially published. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing TAMs.

General Counsel Memoranda

The Office of the Chief Counsel of the IRS issues General Counsel Memoranda (GCM) in response to requests for advice from IRS personnel. They generally answer questions relating to Technical Advice Memoranda, Private Letter Rulings, and Revenue Rulings and provide the reasoning and authority used and relied on in those documents. GCMs are numbered sequentially from the original date of publication. Click on the following link for information on locating and citing GCMs.

Actions on Decisions

Actions on Decisions (AODs) are legal memoranda prepared by IRS tax litigation attorneys when the IRS loses a case. AODs provide two recommendations: 1) whether to appeal or not appeal an adverse decision and why and 2) whether to acquiesce or not acquiesce and why. This distinction is important because the IRS may decide not to appeal a specific decision at the same time that it decides not to acquiesce and to continue litigating the same issue in future cases. AODs are numbered sequentially by year. Click on the following link for information on locating AODs.

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VIII. Additional Resources

Treatises: Click on the following link to access the Legal Treatises by Subject guide, which includes treatises devoted to taxation.

Research Guides:

Citation Manual:

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