Taxes

• General Resources
• Statutes
• Regulations and Administrative Rulings
• Court Cases and Opinions
• Tax Reform and Advocacy

General Resources

Tax Law (LexisNexis^® Academic)

This online database, available to members of the UNT community, searches and retrieves many full text resources related to tax law, including federal and state statutes, regulation, rulings, and cases; law review articles; tax law reporters; the Internal Revenue Bulletin and Cumulative Bulletin; and more.

LexisNexis® Knowledge Base: Taxation (LexisNexis)

Descriptions of sources related to tax law available in the LexisNexis database. Includes suggestions on how to search these materials.

American Bar Association: Section of Taxation (ABA)

The national voice of tax lawyers. Goals include helping taxpayers better understand their rights and obligations under the tax laws and working to make the tax system fairer, simpler and easier to administer. They publish The Tax Lawyer and The State and Local Tax Lawyer.

Statutes

Most current federal statutes covering income, estate and gift, excise, and employment taxes are contained in Title 26 of the U.S. Code, also known as the Internal Revenue Code.

Title 26 of the U.S. Code is contained in the following online sources, in which you can search by keyword or browse by table of contents:

Cornell Legal Information Institute

GPO Access

Office of the Law Revision Counsel

Annotated versions of the Code include references to related court cases, law review articles, and other materials. They can be found in the following sources:

U.S. Code Annotated (West), available on the Third Floor of Willis Library under call number KF62.U5 T.26

Campus Research (West) (contains U.S. Code Annotated)

LexisNexis Academic (contains U.S. Code Service)

Regulations and Administrative Rulings

The Department of the Treasury has been authorized to carry out and enforce the tax laws. This is done primarily through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a bureau within the Treasury Department that collects taxes, interprets the tax laws, and enforces the Internal Revenue Code.

Main sources of Tax Regulations and Administrative Rulings

Code of Federal Regulations: Title 26—Internal Revenue (Legal Information Institute)

Current regulations related to federal income tax. Earlier editions back to 1936 area available in Government Documents Microforms. Ask at the Government Documents Service Desk for assistance.

Treasury (Tax) Regulations (IRS)

Current and proposed regulations related to federal income tax. Includes summaries of proposed regulations in plain language.

Internal Revenue Manual

This work compiles policies, procedures, instructions, and guidelines related to the function and administration of the IRS. It is divided into parts based on IRS department organization.

Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRS)

This weekly publication is the authoritative instrument of the IRS for announcing all substantive rulings necessary to promote a uniform application of tax law. Included are Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, Treasury Decisions, IRS Notices and News Releases and acquiescences or non-acquiescences in court decisions. Individual issues are later compiled into the Cumulative Bulletin.

Cumulative Bulletin (IRS)

Consolidates all items of a permanent nature published weekly in Internal Revenue Bulletin, as well as cumulating announcements relating to decisions of the Tax Court. Issues from 1969 to the present are available in Government Documents under Call Number T22.25: [year-no.].

Major IRS Pronouncements and Where to Find Them

Revenue Rulings

These are pronouncements that show how the law is to be applied in specific, factual situations presented by taxpayers. Revenue Rulings are cited to the Cumulative Bulletin and are published in full in Tax Notes as well as in Merten's Law of Federal Income Taxation. They are available online at http://www.legalbitstream.com. Before 1953, rulings were called Income Tax (I.T.) or Employment Tax (E.T.) rulings, or various other names such as Office Decisions (O.D.). Revenue Rulings are assigned a number in the order they are issued, preceded by the year of issuance (e.g., Rev. Rul. 76-111).

Revenue Procedures

These explain IRS internal practices and procedures. For example, one might describe how to request a revenue ruling. They are published the same places as Revenue Rulings and are numbered in the same way (e.g., Rev. Proc. 75-19).

Letter Rulings

Letter rulings (LTRs) and private letter rulings (PLRs) are IRS responses to questions from taxpayers about specific, factual situations, but unlike revenue rulings, they are not considered of interest to the general public. They are published in IRS Letter Rulings (a CCH publication), and can be obtained from the IRS upon request. Numbers assigned to letter rulings are in three parts: the year and the week issued, followed by a number showing the order in which the ruling was issued (e.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 93-17-052).

Technical Advice Memoranda (TAMs)

These are a specific type of letter ruling and arise in response to questions from field auditors who are auditing returns. They are issued in the same numerical series as PLRs. They are published in IRS Letter Rulings (a CCH publication), and can be obtained from the IRS upon request.

General Counsel Memoranda (GCMs)

These are prepared by the IRS office of Chief Counsel as internal guidance to explain the reasoning behind Revenue Rulings, Private Letter Rulings and Technical Advice Memoranda as they are being prepared. GCMs are numbered sequentially, but without any indication of the year they were issued (e.g., Gen. Couns. Mem. 39,417). They are published in Tax Notes and are available on LexisNexis Academic (select Legal tab, select Tax Law, then select "IRS General Counsel Memos" as source).

Actions on Decisions (AOD) and Acquiescence or Non-Acquiescence Decisions

The only court decisions that are binding on the IRS are those of the U.S. Supreme Court. Actions on Decisions are internal documents that summarize court decisions that are opposed to the IRS decision and make a recommendation to acquiesce or not acquiesce. AODs can be found in Tax Notes and are available on LexisNexis Academic (select Legal tab, select Tax Law, then select "Actions on Decisions" as source). The IRS Commissioner's decisions based on these recommendations are called Acquiescence or Non-Acquiescence Decisions. The Internal Revenue Bulletin lists the Commissioner's decision whether to acquiesce as soon as it becomes available. The Cumulative Bulletin consolidates the list semiannually and annually. 

News Releases, Notices, and Announcements

News Releases and Notices come from the Public Affairs Division of the IRS and are used to announce policy decisions on technical issues. Before 1976, they were called Technical Information Releases and were distributed to tax practitioners via a mailing list. Digests of news releases and notices appear in Tax Notes. Other notices, announcements, and delegation orders appear regularly in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. They are numbered consecutively throughout the year (e.g., I.R.S. News Release IR-1575 (Mar. 17, 1976)).

Court Cases and Opinions

The judicial system is responsible for resolving disputes arising over the interpretation or intended application of tax statutes and regulations. Federal tax litigation begins in one of three venues. It the tax has not been paid, litigation begins in the U.S. Tax Court. Here there is no right to a jury trial, but the judges have more experience in and understanding of tax matters than in a more general court. If the tax has already been paid, but the taxpayer has been refused a refund, the litigation begins in either the federal district court, where he is entitled to a jury trial, or in the Court of Federal Claims.

Appeals from the Tax Court and the federal district courts are to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where the taxpayer lives. Appeals from the Court of Federal Claims are to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Appeals from these courts are to the U.S. Supreme Court.

United States Tax Court

Congress created the Tax Court to provide a judicial forum in which affected persons could dispute tax deficiencies determined by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue prior to payment of the disputed amounts. Tax Court Regular Opinions deal with important, precedent-setting issues, and are published in the United States Tax Court Reports (TC). Before 1942, the Tax Court was called the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA), and opinions were published in the Board of Tax Appeals Reports. Less important decisions of the Tax Court are called Tax Court Memorandum Decisions are less important decisions of the Tax Court, and are published unofficially by CCH in Tax Court Memorandum Decisions (also available online in LexisNexis Academic). Opinions Search is a database that contains Tax Court and Memorandum Opinions back to September 25, 1995, and Summary Opinions back to January 1, 2001. All published Tax Court decisions appear unofficially in the CCH Tax Court Reporter.

United States District Courts

The U.S. district courts hear trial-level tax cases as well as any cases dealing with the U.S. Code, so the judges do not specialize in taxation issues. Cases are only heard in the district courts after the tax has been paid, so they typically involve a taxpayer suing the government for a refund after an appropriate waiting period. District courts are assigned to specific geographic areas throughout the U.S.  Jury trials are permitted, and the litigation usually takes place where the taxpayer lives or does business. Opinions from the federal district courts are published in West's Federal Reporter and Federal Reporter, 2nd series (before 1932), and Federal Supplement and Federal Supplement, 2nd series (after 1932). These are also in LexisNexis Academic and West's Campus Research. Commercial loose-leaf sets that contain nearly all of the tax cases published in the Federal Reporter and Federal Supplement, plus additional cases not published by West, include U.S. Tax Cases (CCH) and  American Federal Tax Reports (RIA).

U.S. Court of Federal Claims

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims, a national court located in Washington D.C., is responsible for hearing all cases concerning monetary claims against the federal government, including tax refunds, and tends to hear a larger number of tax cases than the other federal district courts. Tax cases argued before the Court of Federal Claims involve taxes that have already been paid. Jury trials are not allowed, and the judges are not tax law specialists. Before October 1982, this court was called the U.S. Court of Claims, and decisions were appealed directly to the Supreme Court. Opinions were published in the United States Court of Claims Reporter and in West's Federal Reporter, 2nd series. Between October 1, 1982, and Oct 29, 1992, this court was called the United States Claims Court, and cases were published in West's United States Claims Court Reporter. Since 1992, cases have been published in West's Federal Claims Reporter. All these cases are also available online in LexisNexis Academic and West's Campus Research. Commercial loose-leaf sets include U.S. Tax Cases (CCH) and  American Federal Tax Reports (RIA). 

United States Courts of Appeals and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

The first level of appellate courts for tax cases is the U.S. Court of Appeals, and like the District Court and Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals considers cases unrelated to taxes as well as tax cases.There are 13 Courts of Appeals: 11  are responsible for cases that originate in designated states, one is assigned to Washington D.C., and one, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, hears only tax and other cases that originate in the Court of Federal Claims. All of the decisions of the various Courts of Appeals designated for publication are included in West's Federal Reporter, 2nd series. Commercial loose-leaf sets that contain most tax cases from the Courts of Appeals include U.S. Tax Cases (CCH) and  American Federal Tax Reports (RIA). All these cases are also available online in LexisNexis Academic and West's Campus Research. 

Supreme Court of the United States

All decisions of appellate courts may be further appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the nation, and the court of last appeal. The Supreme Court's interpretation and application of the law are the final judicial authority, and all lower courts, taxpayers, and the IRS must follow their decision. Unlike the circuit courts, which must rule on every case that is appealed from the trial courts, the Supreme Court does not have to accept every case that is appealed from below. There are so many cases that they accept only the ones they consider to be most important.There are nine justices in the Supreme Court, all of whom hear every case accepted for consideration. U.S. Supreme Court opinions are published officially in the United States Reports and unofficially in West's Supreme Court Reporter and Supreme Court Reporter, and in Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of the United States (Lawyer's Edition) and United States Supreme Court Reports, (Lawyer's Edition), published by Lawyer's Co-operative Publishing Company and others. Commercial loose-leaf sets that contain Supreme Court tax cases include U.S. Tax Cases (CCH) and  American Federal Tax Reports (RIA). All these cases are also available online in LexisNexis Academic and West's Campus Research.

Tax Reform and Advocacy

Citizens for an Alternative Tax System (CATS)

This grassroots public interest group has proposed that the national sales tax be abolished and replaced with a national retail sales tax.

National Taxpayers Union & NTU Foundation (NTU)

Founded in 1969 under section 501 (c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code to lobby Congress with respect to fiscal and economic policy, NTU is a non- partisan, public interest advocacy organization dedicated to lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and the principles of rational and limited government. Includes news reports, commentary, ratings of Congress members, and a database of taxpayer groups.

Taxpayer Advocate Service (IRS)

An IRS program that provides an independent system to assure that tax problems which have not been resolved through normal channels are promptly and fairly handled. The goals of the Taxpayer Advocate Service are to protect individual taxpayer rights and to reduce taxpayer burden.