Question

When performing tax research, you may come across a vague answer that does not fit your client’s facts. If any of the Internal Revenue Code sections do not provide an answer, where would you turn for additional resources? How often should we reference the committee reports to see what was discussed on the congressional floor? Give an example of when you would (or did) use additional resources to find the answer for a client’s unique situation.

Answer 1

Many a times there comes a situation where in we are not sure as to what could be the right answer to a particular situation. Also, while performing any tax research, we might come across a vague answer that does not fit our client's facts. Such a situation becomes cumbersome and needs to be dealt with tactfully.

In such a case, if the Internal Revenue Code sections also do not provide an answer, we would look out and search for judgments which have been passed by the Authorities on similar cases, or had identical facts and issues. We would also try to make the best interpretation of the statutes and combine them with the laws passed by the State to come to a solution. Expert help in the same field can be taken so that they could guide us from their years of experience.

There is no defined frequency for referring the committee reports to see what was discussed on the congressional floor. We can always refer the committee reports to gain clarity in law or whenever there is any ambiguity. Also in cases that crop us where we are not able to match our client's issues with the prevailing laws.

We would use additional resources to find the answer for a client's unique situation when the law itself is unclear and ambiguous such that it is interpreted differently by different people in different circumstances. Additional resources are also used whenever any case of law has been overruled by a higher authority or the matter is pending in the court of law. Any question of law which is debatable might also require us to check for additional sources for a correct and apt conclusion to suit the client specific situation.