Federal Income Tax Research Guide

Table of Contents
  1. General Reference
  2. Statutory Sources
  3. Judicial Sources
  4. Administrative Sources
  5. Citators
  6. Manuals and Forms
  7. Journal and Periodical Research
  8. Tax Abbreviations Guide

This guide will introduce you to federal income tax resources available at Marquette University Law Library.

Tax research follows the same process as other legal research.  Legal authority consists of primary and secondary sources.  Primary authority refers to statutes, treaties, regulations, rulings and judicial decisions.  Secondary authority, such as treatises, loose-leaf services, and periodicals, explain and analyze primary sources.

When researching tax issues, you will first need to find the appropriate Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section and the regulations issued under that section. Court cases and official Internal Revenue Service (the Service) documents are then found to further support your position.  If you are new to tax research, guides and other secondary sources below will help you determine where to find relevant tax documents.

General Reference

Research/Study Guides: The following publications are useful in beginning your tax research and will help you determine the appropriate publication for finding tax documents:

  1. Bankman, Federal Income Tax: Examples & Explanations (RESERVE KF 6369.3 .B35)
  2. Burk, Understanding Federal Income Taxation (RESERVE KF 6369.3 .B87)
  3. Cameron, Questions & Answers: Federal Income Tax; multiple choice and short answer questions and answers (RESERVE KF 6369.5 .C36)
  4. Karlin, Tax Research (RESERVE KF 6320 .K37)
  5. Raabe, et al., Federal Tax Research (RESERVE KF 6320 .R33)
  6. Richmond, Federal Tax Research: Guide to Materials and Techniques (RESERVE KF 6320 .R5)

Looseleaf Services: Law books that compile both primary and secondary materials and are edited weekly or biweekly to reflect current law.

  1. CCH, Standard Federal Tax Reporter (KF 6285 .C67), is arranged by IRC section and includes the text of the Code, regulations, annotations, explanations, as well as a detailed index and two Citator volumes. It is updated weekly. Each year has its own set of binders - Marquette Law Library keeps the current and previous two years in the open collection, and older years (back to 1928) in Archives. This, as well as other CCH tax materials and court cases, are available online from any Marquette University workstation at CCH Intelliconnect
  2. RIA, Federal Tax Coordinator 2d (KF 6285 .R47), is arranged by subject and covers all areas of taxation. This multi-volume set is also updated weekly and contains a number of indexes and finding lists. Chapters discuss each topic and include citations to IRC sections, regulations, cases and other rulings. This, as well as other RIA tax materials and court cases, are available online from any Marquette University workstation at RIA Checkpoint

Other Selected Resources

  1. BNA, Tax Management U.S. Income Portfolios (KF 6285 T391), is an in-depth series of portfolios on selected tax issues. Each is written by one or more tax practitioners who are experts on the topic. Portfolios contain a Detailed Analysis section with extensive footnotes, and a Working Papers/Worksheets section with forms and checklists. A Portfolio Index organized by subject and by IRC section is shelved at the end of the set. This, as well as other BNA materials, are available online from Eckstein Law School and Law Library.
  2. Marvin A. Chirelstein, Federal Income Taxation: A Law Student's Guide to the Leading Cases and Concepts, Foundation Press (KF 6369 C43).
  3. Tax Analysts includes federal and state tax resources, as well as Tax Notes Today, and is available from Eckstein Law School and Law Library.
  4. U.S. Master Tax Guide, CCH (KF 6285 .C671) and Federal Tax Handbook, Thomson / RIA (KF 6285 .R47) are annual deskbooks that provide concise commentary on tax law.

Glossary: A listing of selected tax terms and definitions is available on the Service website at: https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/index.jsp

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Statutory Sources: The Internal Revenue Code

The Internal Revenue Code is found at Title 26 of the United States Code and contains all statutes covering income, estate and gift, excise, and employment tax:

United States Code, GPO (KF 62 2006 .A2), is the official government publication. Latest available in print is the 2006 edition with 2008 supplements. Title 26 is available electronically at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26

The following publications reproduce the Code, include case summaries and other research references, and are updated more frequently than the official version:

  1. Standard Federal Tax Reporter, CCH (KF 6285 .C67) - discussed above.
  2. United States Code Annotated, West (KF 62.3 .C621)
  3. United States Code Service, Lexis (KF 62.2 .C62)

Judicial Sources: Court Cases

When a taxpayer and the Service cannot reach an agreement using the internal audit and appeal process, the dispute may be taken to federal court. Tax cases are first heard in one of three lower level trial courts and can then advance to the appellate level and, ultimately, to the United States Supreme Court.

A. Trial Courts: U.S. Tax Court, U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

  1. The United States Tax Court (http://www.ustaxcourt.gov), is a specialized court that hears only federal tax cases. If this Court is chosen, the taxpayer does not have to pay the disputed tax prior to litigation. Although based in Washington, D.C., Tax Court judges travel throughout the country and hear cases in all major cities. Prior to 1943, this court was called the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals.

    The U.S. Tax Court issues Regular, Memorandum, and Summary Opinions.

    • Regular Opinions (TC) are issued in cases involving a new or unusual point of law. These opinions may be found at:

      - U.S. Tax Court site, from 1995,
      http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/asp/HistoricOptions.asp
      - Tax Court Reporter, CCH (KF 6280 .C65)
      - United States Tax Court Reports, GPO, from 1970 (KF 6280 .A2 T37)
      - Tax Court of the United States Reports, 1942-1969, (KF 6280.A2 T36)
      - U.S. Board of Tax Appeals Reports, GPO, 1924-1942 (KF 6280.A2 T36)

    • Memorandum Opinions (TCM) involve established legal issues and interpretation of facts. These opinions may be found at:

      - U.S. Tax Court site, from 1995, http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/asp/HistoricOptions.asp
      - Tax Court Memorandum Decisions, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 T31)
      - Tax Court Reporter, CCH (KF 6280 .C65)

    • Summary Opinions are issued by the Tax Court's Small Cases division, and involve disputes of $50,000 or less - these opinions cannot be appealed or used as precedent pursuant to 26 USC § 7463(b). Prior to 2001, these opinions were not reported. They are now available at:

      U.S. Tax Court site from 2001,
      http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/asp/HistoricOptions.asp

  2. The United States District Courts (http://www.uscourts.gov/districtcourts.html) are the only tax trial court where a jury trial can be requested by a taxpayer. Taxpayers must pay the amount in dispute and sue for a refund as a condition to litigating in this Court. These opinions may be found in:

    - Federal Supplement, West (KF 120 .F42)
    - United States Tax Cases, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

  3. The United States Court of Federal Claims (http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov) was called the United States Claims Court prior to 1992. Taxpayers must pay the disputed amount prior to litigation. These opinions may be found at:

    - U.S. Court of Federal Claims site
    - Federal Claims Reporter, West (1992 to date) (KF 125 .C5 U56)
    - United States Claims Court Reporter, West (1983-1992) (KF 125 .C5 U55)
    - United States Court of Claims Reports, West (1944-1982) (KF 125 .C5 U54)
    - United States Tax Cases, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

  4.  

B. Courts of Appeals: U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

  1. U.S. Courts of Appeals (http://www.uscourts.gov/courtsofappeals.html) for the taxpayer geographical residence review decisions from the Tax Court and the District Courts. See map and links to Courts of Appeals: http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/index.cfm. These opinions may be found in:

    - Federal Reporter, West (KF 105 .F43)
    - United States Tax Cases, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

  2. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/) reviews decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. These opinions may be found in:

    - Federal Claims Reporter, West, 1992 to date, (KF 125 .C5 U56)
    - Federal Reporter, West (KF 105 .F43)
    - Supreme Court Reporter, West (KF 102.2 .S97)
    - United States Tax Cases, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

C. The U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.supremecourtus.gov): hears cases involving both constitutional challenges and those involving statutory interpretation. These opinions are available at this site from 2002, and at Findlaw from 1893, (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html). These opinions may also be found in:

  • United States Reports, GPO (KF 102.1 .U8)
  • Supreme Court Reporter, West (KF 102.2 .S97)
  • United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition, Lexis (KF 102.4 .L38)
  • United States Tax Cases, CCH (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

Administrative Sources: Regulations and Rulings

  1. Regulations: Issued by the Service to offer guidance on complying with the Internal Revenue Code. These may be issued as Proposed, Temporary, or Final Regulations.

    Proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register, giving interested parties an opportunity to make written or oral comments before they become final. A proposed regulations includes the acronym REG in its citation: REG-116641-01.

    Temporary regulations are often issued simultaneously with proposed regulations to give taxpayers immediate guidance concerning a new provision of the law, and carry the same weight as final regulations. A temporary regulation includes a T in its citation: Treas. Reg. § 1.152-4T.

    Final regulations have no special identifier: Treas. Reg. § 1.152-1, are promulgated by Treasury Decisions, and published in Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

    Regulations are numbered in the same manner as the Code sections to which they relate, preceded by a numerical prefix indicating which tax is involved. The most common prefixes include:

    1. = Income Tax (e.g., Treas. Reg. § 1.862-1) 20. = Estate Tax (e.g., Treas. Reg. § 20.2107-1) 25. = Gift Tax (e.g., Treas. Reg. § 25.2702-4) 31. = Employment Tax (e.g., Treas. Reg. § 31.3406(a)-1) 301. = Procedure and Administration (e.g., Treas. Reg. § 301.6335-1)

    Location:

    - Federal Register (KF 70 .A2) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
    - Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF 6282 .A2 I571) https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/internalRevenueBulletins.html
    - CCH, Standard Federal Tax Reporter (KF 6285 .C67)
    - RIA, Federal Tax Coordinator 2d (KF 6285 .R47)
    - Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Title 26 (KF 70 .A1) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
    (The C.F.R. does not include proposed regulations.)

    Revised Circular 230, Regulations Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service (Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 10), contains rules and ethics in tax practice, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/pcir230.pdf

  2. Revenue Rulings: Official Service interpretation of the tax law as it applies to a specific fact situation, often with examples. Revenue rulings are numbered chronologically and have two segments separated by a hyphen; the first segment indicates the year, and the second indicates the ruling number for that year. Beginning in 2000, the IRS began using all four digits to indicate the year (e.g., Rev. Rul. 90-28; Rev. Rul. 2002-1). Revenue Rulings are published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin and are found at:

    Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF 6282 .A2 I571) https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/internalRevenueBulletins.html

  3. Revenue Procedures: Official statements on the Service internal practice and procedure in the administration of the tax laws. These are numbered in the same way as Revenue Rulings (e.g., Rev. Proc. 99-2; Rev. Proc. 2002-1). Revenue Procedures are also published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin and are found at:

    Internal Revenue Bulletin/Cumulative Bulletin (KF 6282 .A2 I571), online from 1996 to present at https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/internalRevenueBulletins.html,

  4. Written Determinations: These include Private Letter Rulings (L.T.R./P.L.R.), Technical Advice Memoranda (T.A.M.), and Chief Counsel Advice (C.C.A.) These documents are taxpayer or issue-specific determinations, and while they may be useful in determining the Service position on certain issues, they cannot be used or cited as precedent pursuant to 26 USC § 6110(k)(3). These are available online at https://www.irs.gov/foia/article/0,,id=138707,00.html

    Private Letter Rulings are taxpayer-specific rulings written by the Service National Office in response to requests by taxpayers. These are located in print in CCH, IRS Letter Rulings (KF 6282.A2 I575). Letter Rulings have a nine-digit numbering system beginning with the year, followed by the week and the number of the ruling for that week. For example, L.T.R. 200418053 refers to the 53rd letter ruling issued in the 18th week of the year 2004.

    Technical Advice Memoranda, published and numbered with letter rulings, are also written by the Service National Office when requested by the Service district officers.

    Chief Counsel Advice are prepared by the Office of Chief Counsel and issued to field or service center employees.

Validating Your Research: Citators

Consult these sources to check the status and validity of tax cases and IRS documents:

CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter (KF 6285 .C67) includes two Citator volumes arranged by case name: Citator Volume A-M and Citator Volume N-Z.
Citator Volume N-Z also contains Finding Lists for locating and updating revenue rulings, revenue procedures, Treasury Decisions, and other IRS and Treasury Department releases.

Shepard's Federal Tax Citator (KF 6280.5 .S461) includes hard-bound volumes and softbound supplements organized by case reporter series.

Manuals and Forms

Internal Revenue Manual (KF 6301 .A4)
Contains policies and procedures governing the Service and its personnel.
MU Law Library has Part 1: Administration, and Part 4: Examining Process.
All parts available at: https://www.irs.gov/irm/index.html

Audit Techniques Guides are prepared for Service field personnel when examining market segments ranging from "Aerospace Industry" to "Wine Industry."
https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Audit-Techniques-Guides-(ATGs)

Forms, instructions, and publications dating back to 1990 are available at the Service Web site, https://www.irs.gov/Forms-&-Pubs

Journal and Periodical Research

Print copies of the following tax journals are shelved alphabetically on the fourth floor of Eckstein Law Library (coverage is listed in parenthesis after the title.)

Selected online access is also listed below and is available from any campus computer; members of the Marquette community (students, faculty and staff) can access these resources from off campus - click here for more information.

National Tax Journal (1948, v. 1 to present), published by the National Tax Association.
Online full text articles from 1987 are available at ProQuest
Online access to earlier years is also available at ProQuest

Practical Tax Lawyer (1986, v. 1 to present), published by the American Law Institute-American Bar Association. Online full text articles from Fall 1991 are available at ProQuest

Practical Tax Strategies (1998, v. 61, no. 5 to present), published by the RIA Group.
Online full text articles from July 2002 are available at ProQuest

Tax Adviser (1970, v. 1 to present), published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Online full text articles from 1987 are available at ProQuest

Tax Executive (1961, v. 14 to 2004, v. 56), published by the Tax Executive Institute.
Online full text articles from May/June 1992 are available at ProQuest

Tax Lawyer (1967, v. 21 to present) published by the ABA Section on Taxation. Previous titles include Section of Taxation Bulletin (1947-1961) and Bulletin of the Section of Taxation, American Bar Association (1962-1967).
Online full text articles from 1947 are available at HeinOnline

Taxes (1939, v. 17 to present), published by CCH.
Online full text articles from April 1993 are also available at ProQuest

Access to other full-text income tax articles, databases and other e-resources is available from any campus computer.

Tax Abbreviations Guide

Listed below are common tax abbreviations. For proper tax citation, also consult:

AFR Applicable Federal Rates
Issued as a Rev. Rul. during the last week of each month
A.O.D. Actions on Decisions
ATGs Audit Techniques Guides (formerly MSSP)
B.T.A. United States Board of Tax Appeals Reports (KF 6280 .A2 T36) - Official predecessor to T.C.
C.B. Cumulative Bulletin (KF 6282 .A2 I571) - arranged by Code Section
C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations (KF 70 .A1)
Cl. Ct. United States Claims Court Reporter (KF 125 .C5 U55)
Ct. Cl. United States Court of Claims Reports (KF 125 .C5 U54)
F., F.2d, F.3d Federal Reporter, 2d & 3d Series (KF 105 .F43)
F. Supp.
F. Supp.2d		 Federal Supplement & 2d Series (KF 120 .F42)
Fed. Cl. Federal Claims Reporter (KF 125 .C5 U56)
FR, Fed. Reg. Federal Register (KF 70 .A2)
G.C.M. General Counsel Memorandum
I.R.B. Internal Revenue Bulletin (KF 6282 .A2 I571) - Weekly
Compiled in C.B. twice a year
I.R.C. Internal Revenue Code (Title 26 of the U.S.C.)
I.R.M. Internal Revenue Manual (KF 6301 .A4)
L. Ed., L. Ed. 2d U.S. Supreme Court Reports Lawyer's Edition & 2d Series
(KF 102.4 .L38)
MSSP Market Segment Specialization Program (see ATGs) (KF 6301 .A41)
P.L.R./L.T.R. Private Letter Rulings (KF 6282 .A2 I575x)
Rev. Proc. Revenue Procedure, found in C.B. and I.R.B.
Rev. Rul. Revenue Ruling, found in C.B. and I.R.B.
S. Ct. Supreme Court Reporter (KF 102.2 .S97)
T.A.M. Technical Advice Memoranda, published with PLR/LTR
T.C. United States Tax Court Reports (KF 6280 .A2 T37)
T.C.M. Tax Court Memorandum Decisions (KF 6280 .A2 T31)
T.D. Treasury Decisions, in C.B., Fed. Reg., and I.R.B.
Treas. Reg. Treasury Regulations, found in C.B., Fed. Reg., and I.R.B.
U.S. United States Reports (KF 102.1 .U8)
U.S.C. United States Code (KF 62 .A2)
U.S.C.A. United States Code Annotated (KF 62.3 .C621)
U.S.C.S. United States Code Service (KF 62.2 .C62)
U.S.T.C. U.S. Tax Cases (KF 6280 .A2 A6)

 

Selected Websites

ABA Section of Taxation, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/taxation.html includes a meta-index to online sources for primary tax materials, federal and state tax sites.

General Accounting Office, http://www.gao.gov is the investigative arm of Congress and issues many reports on tax administration and on substantive tax topics. GAO reports can be searched full text, or by number, date, title or agency.

House Committee on Ways and Means, http://waysandmeans.house.gov has primary jurisdiction over revenue bills. This site includes news, documents, and hearing schedules.

IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, https://www.irs.gov/advocate is an independent organization within the Service to help taxpayers resolve problems. This site includes reports submitted to Congress and contact information.

Joint Committee on Taxation, http://www.house.gov/jct includes members from the private sector and from the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means. This site includes JCT publications from 1981 as well as a search engine.

Senate Committee on Finance, https://www.finance.senate.gov/ has primary jurisdiction over revenue bills. This site includes news, hearing schedules, and a public comment section.

Tax and Accounting Sites Directory, http://www.taxsites.com is a meta-index to online federal, state, and international tax materials. Also provides links to accounting materials, forms, and publications.

Tax Foundation, https://taxfoundation.org/ is a public policy research group that analyzes data at all levels of government and educates the public about their tax system and the effects of tax policy. Includes tax news, commentary, state and excise data, and publications.

Thomas, https://www.congress.gov// from the Library of Congress, this comprehensive legislative site include texts of bills, laws, committee reports, roll call votes, Congressional Record, and links to House and Senate Committees.


JFJ 6/2009http://libraryguides.law.marquette.edu/aecontent.php?pid=248720