Federal Tax Law Research: Locating Historical Versions of the Internal Revenue Code
Locating Historical Versions of the Internal Revenue Code
Historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code are available in the following sources:
- Historical versions of the U.S. Code are available in print at KF 62 (1926 forward).
- Historical versions of the U.S. Code are available online:
Westlaw: in the USCAYY databases, which include a database for every year from 1990-2003 that contains the Code as it appeared at the beginning of each year. To access the databases add the last two digits of the year to USCA to create the database identifier, i.e. USCA92. You can also look in the FTX-USC-OLD database which contains the IRC as it existed immediately prior to the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
Lexis: in the CODES;USARCH databases which allow you to search the Code as it existed in any year from 1992-2003.
RIA Checkpoint (available on the Harvard Law School Network and at some law firms): Click on the “+” next to the “Archive Materials” on the right side of the search screen, check the box next to the relevant sources, enter keywords at the top of the screen and click on search.
CCH Tax Research NetWork (available on the Harvard Law School Network and at some law firms): Click on the Federal Tab, scroll down to "Federal Tax Archives," click on the year you are interested in, place a check before the IRC entry, enter search terms in the box at the top of the screen and click on search.
- Historical versions of the IRC are also available in print works that track
changes in the Internal Revenue Codes:
Cumulative Changes in Internal Revenue Codes of 1939 and Tax Regulations Under the Code KF6276.513 .A2x 1943
This work contains reprints of the 1939 tax code sections and their amendments.Cumulative Changes in Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and Tax Regulations Under the Code KF6276.526 .A2x 1954
This work contains reprints of the 1954 tax code sections and their amendments.