For legislative tax laws, there are 3 primary sources that we can draw research from. There are
Statutory sources which are the actual laws set by the U.S. Constitution, Tax Treaties, and Internal
Revenue Code. There are administrative sources such as IRS Regulations, Rulings and Procedures
that further detail the Internal Revenue Code. Finally, there are Judicial Sources which can be
decisions from the Supreme Court, Tax Court or other courts that reviewed cases related to IRS
code and regulations and gave their decisions on how those codes and regulations should be
treated. Judicial Sources are the best primary source as the IRS codes can become very
complicated and it's easier to look at specific court cases that dealt with these cases and final
decisions were made.
Secondary sources are mainly articles and academic journals from CPA's and other financial
advisors. These sources are different from the primary sources as they attempt to interpret the
meaning of the laws that were issued and explain it to the general public. When researching you
must be careful on which articles you use and make sure that multiple sources line up on their
interpretation as some analysts could be incorrect on how the laws and regulations affect a
taxpayer. Articles and statements from the AICPA are going to be the best source for secondary
information as they hold the highest standards for accountants in the U.S.
Primary sources come from three main areas: statutory, administrative, and judicial. Statutory
sources are from tax laws, international tax treaties, and the U.S. Constitution. Statutory sources
can be from both federal and state laws. The most common statutory source for taxes is the
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) or Title 26 of the United States Code. Administrative sources are from
treasury regulations, revenue rulings and procedures. Administrative sources stem from Internal
Revenue Bulletins, IRS procedures, notices, and executive orders. Judicial sources are from
decisions handed down by the court systems. Judicial sources stem from the federal or state court
systems and the decisions/rulings on individual court cases. The court cases are usually based
people challenging interpretations of laws and in the case of tax court cases, the IRC.
Secondary sources are articles, either online or in print, research papers, and reviews. Many times,
secondary sources are analysing the laws, regulations, or court decisions of primary sources. Using
secondary sources can help you interpret what the laws and regulations mean. However, you must
be careful that the secondary sources are interpreting the most current version of the laws.
When I am doing my research, I like to look at the primary sources, like the IRC on either Cornell
law site or on Bloomberg. Then I will go look at articles or the IRS website. Secondary sources are
helpful when you start reading the IRC and it comes across like Charlie Brown’s teacher (wah, wha,
wah). For secondary sources I will google certain key points or phrases and read through the
articles making sure it is analysing the most up-to-date laws.
References
Roby Sawyers, & Gill, S. L. (2020). Federal Tax Research. (12th ed.). South-Western.
