Researching
Federal Tax Law
Virginia A. Neisler, Reference Librarian
Februar y 15, 2016
What kind of resources do you
need to find?
Major Primary Tax Law Resources:
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Statutes
Regulations
Case law
IRS rulings, documents and publications
How do you find those
resources?
Start with secondary sources!
• Commercial databases (RIA Checkpoint; CCH
Intelliconnect; Westlaw; Lexis; Bloomberg)
•
Looseleaf services
•
U.S. Master Tax Guide
• IRS Website
Statutes
The Internal Revenue Code
United States Code, Title 26
• Found In: Commercial databases & publications
• CCH IntelliConnect & RIA Checkpoint
databases
•
Lexis, Westlaw & Bloomberg Law
•
CCH’s Standard Federal Tax Reporter looseleaf
•
RIA’s United States Tax Reporter looseleaf
Regulations
Regulations
Treasury Regulations are promulgated by the IRS under the
supervision of the Treasury Department
• 26 U.S.C. § 7805(a) gives the Secretary of the Treasury the
power to create the necessary rules and regulations for
enforcing the Internal Revenue Code
• Chevron Deference
Types of Regulations
Types of Treasury Regulations:
• Proposed Treasury Regulations (Prop. Treas. Reg.): notice of
proposed rulemaking
• Final Regulations (Treas. Reg.)
• Temporary Regulations (Treas. Reg. 1.71-1T)
Where Can You Find Them?
• Fed. Register / Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26
• Commercial databases / online
• Looseleafs
A note on Proposed
Regulations
Often, there are proposed regulations that are never
finalized.
Sometimes, they are still the best/only guidance
available in that specific area.
Remember the Preamble
• When proposed regulations are published, the preamble
contains a lengthy explanation from the agency discussing the
statutory basis for the rulemaking, the goals of the proposed
regulations, and a discussion of available research on the
topic
• When the final regulation is published, an updated preamble
is published which usually includes responses to comments
that the agency received during the Notice and Comment
period and a discussion of changes between the proposed
regulation and the final regulation
• Only available in the Federal Register, not in the CFR
• Used for the same purpose as legislative history is for statutes
(regulatory history)
Case Law
Sources of Case Law
U.S. Supreme Court
Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit
Court of Federal
Claims
Geographical Circuit Court
of Appeals
District Court
U.S. Tax Court
No Appeal Allowed
U.S. Tax Court
(Small Cases
Division)*
*Less than $50,000. Simpler, informal.
Summary opinions (no precedential value)
Adapted from Federal Tax Research, Figure 5.1
U.S. Tax Court
•
Roving court
•
•
Only court where you can dispute your tax liability without
paying it first!
•
•
Follows precedent from the Circuit which has jurisdiction
for that taxpayer’s appeal.
Strategic for filing
Regular Opinions v. Memorandum
•
Regular = most precedential value
•
Memorandum = for cases concerning an application of
existing law or interpretation of facts*
(*mostly)
Finding Case Law
• For sources of official publication, check the
Bluebook
• No official publication for U.S. Tax Memo and
Summary opinions
• All are available, however, through unofficial
commercial publications and databases
• CCH, RIA, Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, etc.
IRS Publications
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Under standing -IRS-Guidance- A -Brief -Primer
IRS Rulings and Decisions:
Internal Revenue Bulletin Guidance
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Revenue Rulings
Revenue Procedures
Action on Decisions
IRS Announcements / Notices
• Where to find them:
• Internal Revenue Bulletin and Cumulative (official)
•
RIA, CCH, Westlaw, Lexis, etc.
Revenue Rulings
(Rev. Rul.)
•
Provide guidance where things are not exactly clear
•
An official interpretation by the IRS of the Code,
related statutes, tax treaties, and regulations
•
Explains the IRS’s position on how the law is
applied to a specific set of facts submitted by
taxpayer
•
Any taxpayer whose circumstances are
substantially the same as those described in the
Ruling can rely on it
Revenue Procedures
(Rev. Proc.) [annual/technical]
•
An official statement of a procedure that affects
the rights or duties of taxpayers under the Code,
related statutes, regulations, and treaties that
should be a matter of public knowledge
•
Generally provides instructions for return filing or
other procedures
•
Sometimes a Rev. Proc. has a substantive effect
(e.g., interest rate tables)
Other IRB Guidance
• Notices
• Provide guidance before Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures
have been finalized
• Announcements
• A public pronouncement that has only immediate or short-term
value. Categories:
• Corrections to previously-published regulations
• Lists of organizations classified as private foundations
• Extensions of time to file forms (such as after a natural
disaster)
• Press releases
• Actions on Decision (AOD)
• A memorandum by the IRS after losing in litigation stating whether
or not it will appeal similar cases in the future. (“Acquiescence”)
IRS Rulings and Decisions:
Administrative Agency Decisions
In addition to “IRB Guidance,” the IRS regularly drafts
other forms of administrative decision-making. These
are not published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
• Where to find it?
• Varies; check library catalog, IRS website, CCH
IntelliConnect, RIA Checkpoint, Lexis, Westlaw
Letter Rulings and Chief
Counsel Advice
• Private Letter Rulings
• A private letter ruling is the result of a request by a taxpayer to the
Office of Chief Counsel for guidance on a proposed transaction
• A PLR is only binding between the requesting taxpayer and the
IRS
• Determination Letters (benefits & exempt orgs.)
• Issued by the IRS in response to a request by a benefits plan
sponsor as to the qualified status of their retirement plan under
IRC Section 401(a) or exempt organization as to qualification for
exempt status.
• Expresses the IRS’s opinion regarding the form of the plan
• Binding only on those who request letter from the local office.
Letter Rulings and Chief
Counsel Advice
• Technical Advice Memoranda
• Issued either at the IRS’s or the taxpayer’s request for
Chief Counsel guidance on a complex issue arising
during the audit or examination of a particular taxpayer
• A TAM is binding only on the particular taxpayer
• Chief Counsel Advice
• Chief Counsel Advice consists of memoranda written in
response to various internal requests for guidance from
IRS agents, officers, and attorneys.
Miscellaneous IRS Material
• IRS Forms and Publications (available online)
• Forms in fillable PDF format
• Publications: language on what the IRS thinks the law
is. Very valuable!
• As close as the IRS gets to “plain language”
• The Internal Revenue Manual (available online)
• Guidelines for IRS employees, revenue agents &
officers
• Not binding on the IRS and does not confer substantive
rights to taxpayers
• Provides brief explanations of law and procedure
Miscellaneous IRS Material
• Tax Map (available online)
• Find forms and information by topic
• Circular 230 (available online)
• Ethical rules for tax practitioners and rules
governing practice before the IRS
• 31 C.F.R. part 10 (“Practice before the Internal
Revenue Service”)
Secondary
Resources
Looseleaf Services
Specialized finding aids that combine primary
sources of law (statutes and regulations) with
explanations (like a treatise) and annotations to
related resources, such as administrative material
and case opinions, organized by topic.
Two primary looseleafs are the Standard Federal Tax
Reporter and the United States Tax Reporter.
Standard Federal Tax
Reporter
Updated weekly and organized by Code section. The text
will generally be ordered as:
1. Code section
2. Some explanation
3. First applicable Treasury Regulation
4. Additional explanation
5. Annotations to related resources (e.g. Revenue
Rulings, cases, other IRS guidance)
6. Second applicable Treasury Regulation, etc.
Specialized Tax Databases
• CCH IntelliConnect
• Contains the electronic equivalent of the
Standard Federal Tax Reporter
• Also includes additional content, such as U.S.
bilateral tax treaties
• Organized just like the print looseleaf and
works largely in the same way
• Full-text searching interface is not particularly
strong; it is recommended that users “browse”
through the hierarchy of resources
Specialized Tax Databases
RIA Checkpoint
• Contains the equivalents of RIA’s Federal Tax Coordinator
2d and United States Tax Reporter looseleafs
• Also includes the Warren Gorham & Lamont series of tax
treatises
• Full-text search interface is robust and the researcher can
make sophisticated searches similar to those possible on
Lexis and Westlaw
• Terms & Connectors work similarly Westlaw and Lexis.
• But RIA Checkpoint reads spaces between words as
“and”, not “or” as Westlaw and Lexis do.
Bloomberg, Lexis and
Westlaw
• All provide access to a great deal of tax material.
• It is recommended that the researcher activate
each product’s specialized “tax interface” (tabs on
Lexis and Westlaw; Practice Centers on
Bloomberg) as this will provide streamlined
access to these resources.
Take Away Points
• Tax law research can be complicated – there are a lot of
primary sources!
• It can be easier to start with secondary sources
• Updating laws:
• Citator 2d (RIA), Check Citator (CCH), Shepards, KeyCite
• Looseleaf services: put both primary and secondary
sources in one place; using finding aids
• Specialized Tax Databases are a lifesaver
• Reference Desk: askalawlibrarian@umich.edu