Tax ResearchMark Popielarski – Spring 2013

Overview

• Structure & Sources of Tax Law

• Tax Reporters & Electronic Tax Research

Sources of Tax Law – Statutory Authority

• Title 26 U.S.C. (also known as Internal Revenue Code)

• Three major versions:• 1939

• 1954

• 1986

• Current I.R.C. is the 1986 version – frequently updated

Sources of Tax Law - Courts

• U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, District Courts, Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. Tax Court rule on Federal Tax matters

• U.S. Tax Court issues three types of decisions:• “Regular” decisions – novel legal issue (precedential)

• Memorandum decisions – applying established tax law to specific facts (authoritative, but less so)

• Summary Decisions – covers small cases (not precedential)

Sources of Tax Law – Agencies

• Treasury Department • Agency charged by Congress with collecting and administering

the Federal tax system

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)• Part of Treasury Department, most tax authority delegated to IRS

Regulations

• Treasury Regulations• Proposed

• Initial version of regulation submitted for public review and comment (no precedential value)

• Temporary

• Issued when pressing need for regulation on a particular issue—currently issued temporary regulations expire after three years if not replaced with final version (poses legal authority)

• Final

• Official enactment which carries legal authority

Regulations (cont.)

• Treasury Regulations fall into three categories:• Legislative

• IRS creates substantive tax regulations as authorized by law

• Interpretive

• Used to fill-in gaps in tax law—explains IRS’ understanding of IRC

• Procedural

• Addresses the mechanics of tax collection—for example filing tax returns

Publication of Regulations

• Proposed, Temporary, and Final Regulations published in Federal Register (FR) and Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB)• Temporary and Final Regulations published in the FR & IRB are

known as Treasury Decisions (TD)

• Tax regulations are codified in Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

IRS Rulemaking and Pronouncements

• IRS creates and publishes numerous items related to tax law

• Some carry force of law while others have no legal authority

• Important to know which is which when interpreting and applying tax law

• Examples of important IRS material follows

IRS Rulemaking and Pronouncements (cont.)

• Revenue Ruling (Rev. Rul.)• IRS interprets law based on specific factual scenario—authoritative for all

taxpayers so long as still valid

• Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.)• Addresses specific technical procedures—authoritative for all taxpayers

• Private Letter Ruling• Individual taxpayer requests IRS opinion on tax consequences of

prospective transaction—only binding on IRS for specific requesting taxpayer

IRS Rulemaking and Pronouncements (cont.)

• Internal Revenue Manual• Issued to IRS personnel to manage organization and provide guidance

regarding taxpayer matters

• Not mandatory or binding on IRS, but helps tax professionals understand the IRS’ current mindset

• Forms, Form Instructions, and Publications• Instruments issued for benefit of taxpayers to help understand tax issues and

prepare returns

• Possess no legal authority—taxpayers cannot claim reliance and use them at their own risk!

IRS Publications

• Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) • Weekly IRS publication used to keep the public about current and

upcoming tax matters

• Regulations, Rules, and other tax material published in IRB

• Cumulative Bulletin (CB)• Biannual compilation of IRBs

• Forms & Publications• Taxpayer guidance issued by IRS

Tax Publications – RIA

• RIA owned by Thompson Reuters (Westlaw)

• RIA Checkpoint electronic database• United States Tax Reporter

• Federal Tax Coordinator 2d

• American Federal Tax Reports

• Warren, Gorham, & Lamont (WG&L) publications

Tax Publications – RIA (cont.)

• United States Tax Reporter• Arranged chronologically by I.R.C. number

• Contains:

• Code Section

• Committee Reports

• Final and Temporary Regulations

• Proposed Regulations

• Explanations

• Annotations

Tax Publications – RIA (cont.)

• Federal Tax Coordinator 2d• Topically organized—all discussion about an issue located in one

place

• Avoids using overly technical language

• American Federal Tax Reports• Collection/publication of tax-related cases, continuously updated

with bound versions of previous years

Tax Publications – RIA (cont.)

• Warren, Gorham, & Lamont (WG&L)• Publisher of numerous tax treatises

• Important names to know in tax:

• Bittker

• Eustice

• Lokken

• Select WG&L treatises available on Westlaw

Tax Publications – CCH

• Electronic platform – CCH IntelliConnect

• Standard Federal Tax Reporter – Comparable to U.S. Tax Reporter• Organized by Code

• Only covers Income Tax, separate series for other tax areas

• Federal Estate and Gift Tax Reporter

• Federal Excise Tax Reporter

Tax Publications – CCH (cont.)

• U.S. Tax Cases• Tax Decisions from Federal Courts

• U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and Court of Federal Claims

• Tax Court Reporter• Contains Decisions of the Tax Court

Tax Publications - BNA

• Available as standalone product or as part of Bloomberg Law

• Tax Management Series• Current awareness publications

• Portfolios

• Topic specific publication used for researching specific tax issues

Conclusion

• Attorneys encounter tax issues in numerous practice areas

• Tax law constantly changing so maintaining current awareness important

• Many different sources for tax law and guidance

• RIA, CCH, and BNA major sources for tax material