Question

What are useful tax research sources? Please provide an example of primary source information that could have been used.

Answer 1

Two basic sources of Tax Research Resources are:

(A) Primary sources:- The primary sources of Federal tax law are:

• The Internal Revenue Code, which is Title 26 of the United States Code;
• Decisions of the United States Tax Court, district courts, Court of Federal Claims, federal circuit courts, and the United States Supreme Court;
• Treasury Regulations, located in Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
• Internal Revenue Service guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, including Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, Notices, and Announcements; and
• Other Internal Revenue Service material, including Private Letter Rulings and Technical Advice Memoranda.
• Tax Statutes, Regulations, and Guidance- US Code
• See Title 26 for the Internal Revenue Code. This is the official US Government hosted site- US Code
• An alternative site for the code, from Cornell's Legal Information Institute, LII- Code of Federal Regulations
• IRS regulations-Internal Revenue Bulletins
• The Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) is the authoritative instrument for announcing official rulings and procedures of the IRS and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax Conventions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of general interest.
• Legislative Histories- Taxation & Economic Reform in America.
• Federal Tax Case Law- Search Westlaw for tax related case law.

SECONDARY SOURCES

• Journals & Articles: Business Source Complete (Harvard Login)
• Mutli-disciplinary database with over 300 legal and law-related periodicals: Google Scholar (Harvard PIN required)
• ProQuest Accounting & Tax Database -This is the quintessential accountant's database. It brings together highly ranked global and scholarly journals with key resources for locating quick and precise results covering current news and topics, as well as the trends and history influencing important accounting and tax issues of the day.

• Social Science Research Network (SSRN) ; New scholarship including working papers in law and economics.
  • Tax Journals

Westlaw's tax specific law journals :Tax Journals via HeinOnline