Primary sources in tax law are statutes that are legislative or statutory sources. The tax law can
sometimes stem from other legislative activity outside the IRC. Another type of primary source is
administrative sources which include Treasury Regulations, Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures,
Other Written Determinations, and Miscellaneous IRS Publications. The last type of primary sources
is judicial sources which include the Supreme Court, U.S. District Courts, Court of Appeals, U.S.
Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Tax Court (Sawyers & Gill, 2021). A secondary source is a
source that explains, analyses, or interprets the primary sources. These are sources and
publications that are written by tax professionals, scholars, and legal analysts. Secondary sources
can be journals, textbooks, newsletters, and tax services (Internal Revenue Code).
The Internal Revenue Code is a legislative source. This is because they are passed by Congress and
signed into law by the executive branch through the legislative process, so the code is often
considered the focal point of legislative tax law. The Internal Revenue Code 1939 was the first fully
organized federal tax law. This code was replaced by a more flexible code in 1954. The current code
was enacted in 1986. Most tax statutes are found in the IRC which is Title 26 of the USC. The U.S.
Constitution and Internal Tax Treaties are also considered part of the legislative tax law. The U.S.
Constitution is the source for all federal laws, including tax and nontax provisions. The Constitution
allows Congress to impose import taxes but not export taxes. It also requires that taxes imposed by
Congress are followed throughout the U.S. Tax treaties are agreements that are negotiated
between counties regarding the tax treatment of entities and individuals in each county. The
purpose of these treaties is to eliminate “double taxation” when a taxpayer’s income could be
subject to tax in both countries. These tax treaties are negotiated by the Department of Treasury
(Sawyers & Gill, 2021).
The process of tax research beings with primary sources such as regulations or the code. Secondary
sources are then used to help analyse the code or regulations to determine if the code section is
applicable to the tax scenario that is being researched (Internal Revenue Code). Primary sources are
very important in the tax research process as they are the most authoritative tax resource. Only
government bodies are authorized to generate these primary sources, so these resources are how
researchers base their conclusions. Although secondary sources are very useful tools in the
research process to help interpret a primary source, they are not authoritative (2023).
The primary sources of legislative tax law are statutory source, administrative sources, and judicial
sources (Sawyers & Gills, 2020). a Some examples of primary sources would be the Internal revenue
Code, Treasury Regulation and US tax court decisions. a These primary sources have been passed by
congress and signed by the executive branch thru legislative processes. a Primary sources are the
sources that should be used to defend or support your conclusion when it comes to tax law. a The
legislative process has multiple steps from the house of representatives and the Senate coming
together with the same proposal and then they will vote on it.
The secondary sources would be sources of tax information such as journals, tax services, new
letters. Special types of secondary sources would be IRS publications, press releases, tax journals
and newsletters (Dorland, 2023). a These sources are unofficial sources of tax information.
The difference between the primary sources and the secondary sources would be that the primary
sources are official documents stemming from the United States constitution. These sources have
been configured from the appropriate authority like the executive, legislative and judicial branches
of government within the United States. a The secondary source which are journals, publications and
press releases use the primary source as its reliability but is then interpret into what the writer
thinks the primary sources means. a This is a easier way as a researcher to start their search for
information. a This will give the research some information on what another individual thinks the tax
code or primary source is and come to their own determination. a This plays a very important role in
tax research. a Having the ability to try to understand the primary source by using a secondary
source make the research just a little bit easier. a Once you have grasped the understanding and
move forward within your research you can come to a better determination and conclusion to help
your firm, client or company in the tax matter and be able to stand strong on your determination. a
Reference:
Roby Sawyers, & Gill, S. L. (2020). Federal Tax Research. (12th ed.). South-Western.
Dorland, A. (2023, March 17). What are the best tax research sources? Tax & Accounting Blog Posts
by Thomson Reuters. https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/blog/what-are-the-best-tax-research-
sources/#:~:text=Secondary%20tax%20authorities%20are%20unofficial,Tax%20journals%20and%20n
ewsletters
H. Review of Tax Research Materials - Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Code. a
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopich87.pdf
Sawyers, R., & Gill, S. (2021). Federal Tax Research (12th ed.). Cengage Learning US.
What are the Best Tax Research Sources? Tax & Accounting Blog Posts by Thomson Reuters. (2023,
March 17). https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/blog/what-are-the-best-tax-research-sources/
