Electronic and Printed Tax
Services
Chapter 6
Computer Tax Services
Benefits
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User indexes, using any significant term
Can tailor the inquiry to fit any specific tax
problem
Speed and flexibility, including hypertext
linking
Updates more current
Broad availability of information and
documents
Published v. Electronic
Published Electronic
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Annotated Service
Topical Service
Everything
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Currency
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Index
Browsing
Full-text search
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Major Electronic Tax Service
Providers
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RIA Checkpoint
CCH Tax Research Network
Kleinrock TaxExpert
The First Step
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Formulate the issue
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Is it a question of deductibility?
If so, what kind of outlay is it?
What is the nature of the outlay that places
its status in doubt?
Is it a business expense, page 2, other?
Do you already know the controlling IRC §
The Issue
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Is the $1,000 payment to Vendor on February 22
deductible? – will get you nowhere
Is the purchase of a processor at a cost of $1,000
deductible as a business expense? – better
Is the $1,000 purchase of a processor deductible
as a business expense under IRC §162? – better,
if you already know the controlling IRC §
Is the $1,000 purchase of a processor deductible
as a business expense under IRC §162, or must it
be capitalized under IRC §263A? - better
The Issue (cont’d)
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Does the $1,000 cost of a processor qualify as a
deduction under IRC §179?
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Much depends upon how much you already
know about the controlling law, if any,
when you begin your search
To begin with, some key works might be –
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processor – deductible - capitalize
The Beginning of the Search
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Three search methods, depending upon
how much you know about the controlling
law
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Keyword keyword search (obviously
IRC §
cite search
Case name cite search
Content
Published Tax Services
Annotated Tax Services
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CCH – Standard Federal Tax Reporter
RIA – United States Tax Reporter
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Organized by IRC §
Hard copy “compilations”
Search by
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Keyword – Index
Topic or Subject
Code Section
Case Name
Published Tax Services
Annotated Tax Services
Code Section Organization
 Service Annotation (not-authoritative)
 Code section
 Regulations
 Other authorities
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Cases
Revenue Rulings
Etc.
Published Tax Services
Topical Tax Services
Subject matter or transactions
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RIA’s Federal Tax Coordinator 2d
RIA’s Analysis of Federal Taxes: Income
(Analysis)
BNA’s Tax Management Portfolios
(Portfolios)
West’s Mertens Law of Federal Income
Taxation (Mertens)
IRS’s Website
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Lots of info
Forms
Publications
Practitioner’s (info specifically needed by
practitioners)
www.irs.gov
Questions
?
Electronic and Printed Legal
Services (Secondary
Authorities)
Chapter 7
Electronic Legal Services
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LexisNexis
BNA (Bureau of National Affairs)
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Tax Management Portfolios
TaxCore – daily news service
Tax Analysts – very comprehensive
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TaxBase
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Tax Notes Today
Westlaw
Mertens – Law of Federal Income Taxation
Bittker & Loken Service
Questions
?
Journals, Newsletters, and
Internet News Services
Chapter 9
Tax Periodicals
Secondary Authorities
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Annual proceedings
Scholarly reviews
Professional journals
Newsletters
Tax Periodicals
Annual Proceedings
Annual tax professionals’ conferences
 NYU Institute on Federal Taxation
 University of Chicago Law School’s
Annual Federal Tax Conference
 USC’s Major Tax Planning Institute
 Tulane Tax Institute
 Penn State Tax Conference
Tax Periodicals
Scholarly Reviews
Law and business schools’ law review or
academic journal publications
 Tax Law Review by NYU School of Law
 Virginia Tax Review by University of
Virginia School of Law
 Boston University Journal of Tax Law /
BU
 Florida Tax Review by U of Florida
Tax Periodicals
Professional Tax Journals
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AICPA’s Tax Adviser
ABA Section on Taxation’s Tax Lawyer
Warren, Gorham & Lamont’s
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Journal of Taxation
Taxation for Accountants
Journal of Partnership Taxation
CCH’s Taxes
Tax Periodicals
Tax Newsletters

CCH’s
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Tax News Direct
Taxes on Parade
BNA’s Daily Tax Report
Tax Analysts’
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Tax Base
Tax Notes
Questions?
?