Income Tax Research
KENJS
taxation_research_guidance.pdf
TAX RESEARCH GUIDANCE
To complete Tax Research Assignments, you will need to conduct research in the three
areas of primary tax law. Work through the searches below to learn how to do tax
research. Review these steps each time you begin working on a new research assignment.
There are many different ways to do research. The list below is one method, but keep in
mind it is not the only way to find documents. If an area is new to you, you may wish to
use Google first, to see what others say on the topic and figure out what kinds of
authority might exist on the issue. The power of Google is that it can quickly pinpoint an
IRS Code citation or Revenue Ruling or Procedure on your issue. However, as you may
know, Google can turn up anything on the internet, and might lead you to sites that have
incorrect, outdated, or misleading information. Exercise your good judgment
accordingly, and in this class, for your research projects and homework, only cite to
information you obtained from the internet sites listed below which have been shown to
be trustworthy. In other words, feel free to use Google as a way to learn what Code
sections or administrative materials may apply. But then use a more reliable internet site
(such as UMUC's library) to actually provide you with the text that you will evaluate and
cite.
Once you get a sense of the topic, and maybe even a code section or other citations, you
can turn to LexisNexis (in the Tax Law library) to pull up specific legislative,
administrative, or judicial authority. As a future professional and a member of this class,
the following three areas of primary tax law (legislative, administrative, and judicial) are
the types of authority you should rely upon and discuss in your research work.
1. Legislative Authority
Internal Revenue Code (IRC)
a. CHECKPOINT and INTELLICONNECT are widely used tax research services. These services require a subscription. You are certainly free to use them if you have
access to them. However, the resources discussed below are available to you free of
charge and should be adequate to your research needs in this course.
Lexis/Nexis Academic – available through the UMUC electronic library: Lexis/Nexis
combines many tax resources in one spot and offers fast, up-to-date information. Your
future employers may expect you to be familiar with Lexis (or its rival, Westlaw) so
take the time now to learn how it works:
www.umuc.edu.
Link to Library.
Link to “Subject Guides”.
Link to “Accounting”.
Under the Most Recommended Resources bar, link to “LexisNexis Academic”.
Enter your username and password (if necessary).
On the Left Menu Bar, click on Research
Guides
Under Academic URLs, click on
Accounting and Tax Law Links.
In the red box, enter your search terms and click search. Try “ordinary w/3 necessary”
(but omit quotation marks). This search should bring up a number of IRC sections.
In the “Show” box, you can click on KWIC (Key Word in Context) to see portions of your
retrieved documents with your search terms highlighted. This will help you to decide
whether a retrieved document might be relevant to your research objective. One document
in your retrieved list is §162 Trade or Business Expenses. In the “Show” box you can
click on Full to display the full document., which is the entire IRC section.
b. Cornell website: If you know what code section you are looking for, one of the fastest ways to find it is through Cornell University Law School’s website at this link:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ But note that the Code on Cornell’s website may not
be current enough for research assignments. Lexis/Nexis is a current database. If you put
“26” in the Title box and the Code section in the section box and hit Go, you can retrieve
the specified Code section.
2. Administrative Authority:
a. Treasury Regulations (Regs); b. Revenue Rulings (Rev. Rul.); c. Revenue Procedures (Rev. Proc.); d. Private letter rulings (PLR)
When looking for administrative materials where you do not have a citation, you can start
by putting key words into the search function at the IRS.gov homepage. If regulations or
rulings have been published on the issue, they will usually pop up here. The IRS
publications can also be helpful in providing an overview, but they are not considered
primary authorities.
a. Treasury Regulations
If you know the regulation citation, some direct ways to pull it up are:
G o t o :
www.irs.gov Link to Help & Resources on the tool bar at the top of the page
Link to Tax Code and Regulations on the left side of page
Under Treasury (Tax) Regulations
Link to Go under Table of
Contents
Leave IRS website
Under actions on the left side of the page, click on browse Code of Federal Regulations.
Under Related Resources, click on the link to Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
(e-CFR)
Scroll down to Title 26 and hit Go. This will take you to a list of links to Treasury Tax
Regulations. You can search the CFR by clicking on search options on the left.
Or
Go to “LexisNexis Academic” in the UMUC electronic library.
Under Academic URLs, select Legal Links.
Click on Statutes, Codes & Regulations.
Click on Code of Federal Regulations.
In the Quick Find box, enter your citation, e.g., enter 1.61, and c l i c k F i n d .
Treasury Regulation 1.61-1 on Gross Income will be retrieved. Generally, we will use
regulations with the number 1. Internal Revenue Code section 61 is the definition of
gross income. Treasury Regulation 1.61-1 further provides for this law on gross income.
An example of proper citation of a Treasury regulation is Treasury Regulation § 1.61–
9(c).
b. Revenue Rulings
How to research a Revenue Ruling:
Go to www.umuc.edu.
LexisNexis Academic database.
Go to Tax Law
Content.
Click on “IRS Bulletins, Rulings, & Memoranda Decisions Combined”
In the Search box enter, e.g., Rev. Rul. 99-7.
Search. One of the documents retrieved is the Revenue Ruling.
Several results turn up related to the issue discussed in the Revenue Ruling.
Please see the Internal Revenue Manual http://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/irm_04-010-
007.html for details on the proper citation of primary tax authorities, including revenue
rulings in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (I.R.B.) and Cumulative Bulletin (C.B.). If the
above link does not take you to the Internal Revenue Manual 4.10.7.2 Researching Tax
Law, copy the link and paste it into your browser. This should work. You are expected to
use the proper citation form in your research projects. An example of proper citation of a
revenue ruling appearing in the I.R.B. is Rev. Rul. 96–55, 1996–49 I.R.B. 4. Internal
Revenue Bulletin No. 1996–49 was issued December 2, 1996. Revenue Ruling 96–55 is
found at page 4. An example of proper citation of a revenue ruling appearing in the C.B.
is Rev. Rul. 63–107, 1963–1 C.B. 71, 74, which directs the reader’s attention to page 74 of
Rev. Rul. 63–107 found in volume 63–1 of the Cumulative Bulletin, starting on page 71.
1. The I.R.B. is the authoritative instrument of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for announcing
official IRS rulings and procedures and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax Conventions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of general interest. It is published on a
weekly basis by the Government Printing Office. 2. It is the policy of the Service to publish in the Bulletin all substantive rulings necessary to promote a
uniform application of the tax laws, including rulings that supersede, revoke, modify, or amend any of those previously published in the Bulletin. All published rulings apply retroactively unless otherwise
indicated. 3. The C.B. is a consolidation of items published in the weekly I.R.B. The C.B. is issued on a semiannual
basis. The C. B. is number 1 to 5, inclusive (April 1919 to December 31, 1921); and I–1 and I–2 to XV–1 and XV–2, inclusive (January 1, 1922, to December 31, 1936) . Each Cumulative
Bulletin number thereafter bears the particular year covered, for example, 1963–1 (January 1 to June
30, 1963).
c. Revenue Procedures
Research a Revenue Procedure:
For e.g., try to find Rev. Proc. 2010-27.
Follow the same steps as for the Rev. Rul. above, but search for Rev. Proc. 2010-27,
using the LexisNexis database.
In the Search box, enter Rev. Proc. 2010-27.
Search.
Search results turn up cites related to the Rev. Proc., including the Rev. Proc. itself.
An example of the proper citation format for a revenue procedure is Rev. Proc. 97-19,
1997-1 C.B. 644. You are expected to use the proper citation form in your research
projects.
d. Letter Rulings
How to research Letter Rulings:
Same steps as above to access LexisNexis database.
Link to “Tax Law Content”.
Click on “IRS Bulletins, Letter Rulings, & Memoranda Decisions,
Combined”
In the Search Box, enter, e.g., PLR 200607003.
Search.
Private Letter Ruling 200607003 appears.
An example of the proper citation format for a letter ruling is Ltr. Rul. 200130006 (July
30, 2001). You are expected to use the proper citation form in your research projects.
3. Judicial Authority
How to find Federal Court Opinions and how to make sure the opinions are still good
law.
Research Court Opinions
a. US Tax Court
Access Lexis/Nexis as described above.
Link to “Tax Law Content:
Click on Federal Cases and IRS Administrative Decisions
Click on Look Up a Legal Case and enter the case citation in
the Search Box, enter, e.g.: TC Memo.1998-220. Search.
Heitz v. Comm’r. will display
Next, in the box labeled Next Steps in the upper right corner,
click on the down arrow and select Shepardize.*** Hit Go.
Click on subsequent appellate history. You will notice that
the Heitz case was reversed by the 7 th
Circuit in Exacto
Spring Corp. v. Comm’r., 196 F.3d 833 (1999)
***On the upper right-hand side, look for the blue link “Shepardize”. Shepards is a
service that tells you instantly if a case is still good law, or if it has been criticized or
overturned. Click on the blue “Shepardize” link and see what has happened to this case.
An example of the proper citation format for a Tax Court decision MedChem Products,
Inc., 116 T.C. 308 (2001). You are expected to use the proper citation form in your
research projects.
b. US Supreme Court
You could find a Supreme Court opinion using LexisNexis as described above. Enter the
citation 506 U.S. 523. This citation is telling you that the case is reported in US
Reporter volume 506, starting at page 523 of that volume.
Supreme Court opinions are also available on the Supreme Court’s website. Go to
www.supremecourt.gov, and in the search feature, type in 506 U.S. 523. This will give
you a link to various US Reporter volumes. Click on 506, then scroll down to page 523
for the opinion.
Tax cases are also decided by Federal District Courts, the U.S. Court of Claims, and U.S.
Courts of Appeals. An example of the proper citation format for an appeals court decision
is Graham v. Commissioner, 6 F.2d 878 (4th Cir. 1964). An example of the proper citation
format for a district court decision is Ruby Smith Stahl v. United States, 294 F. Supp 243
(D.D.C. 1969). An example of proper citation format for a Court of Claims decision is
Uptown Club of Manhattan, Inc. v. United States, 83 F. Supp. 823 (Ct. Cl. 1949). When
you find a relevant tax case, the heading will include a proper citation to the case. For
more detail on researching and citing primary tax authorities, see the Internal Revenue
Manual, 4.10.7.2 Researching Tax Law, http://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/irm_04-010-
007.html#d0e76.
Tax research is a skill that is developed through practice. As you practice with various
services, such as LexisNexis, you will become more adept at discovering relevant
authorities on tax research questions that you may encounter. Do not expect to master tax
research skills immediately, but commence your acquaintance with those databases that
contain the relevant information, and you will learn and improve as you go along.
