Federal Tax Law Research: Additional Resources

Another useful source of current information and interpretation is the IRS's Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB). The IRB is published weekly and contains information on recent regulations, procedures and rulings of the IRS.

The current issue, as well as an archive of past issues, is available on the IRS website. The last IRB issue of the year includes a cumulative index of all past issues.

With constant revisions and new interpretations to most sections of the Tax Code, it is important to stay up-to-date on changes in the law, new procedures, lapsed regulations, etc. There are many ways to stay informed about the most recent tax law activity including by tracking regulations, reading news updates and practitioner newspapers, and regularly checking tax practice centers/interfaces such as Bloomberg Tax, Checkpoint, and CCH Intelliconnect.

News Sources

• Daily Tax Report (Bloomberg Law: Tax) - Issued daily, often tagged by subject. Reports on the latest activity, news, decisions by the IRS and tax courts, and commentary by leading firms and practitioners. Features news stories related to the IRC, often in specialized areas. News is divided by Federal, State, or International law. This resource is the most widely used practitioner tool for current awareness in tax law.

• IRS Practice Adviser Report (Bloomberg Law: Tax) - Issued daily like the Tax Report, features news concerning tax practice and procedure. Rather than all news related to tax law, the IRS Practice Adviser Report primarily consists of activity that affects tax practice, such as litigation, procedure, court rules, and transactions.

• Federal Taxes Weekly Alert Newsletter (RIA Checkpoint) - Issued weekly, this newsletter features expert commentary and reporting on tax activity from Congress, the courts, the IRS, and other executive agencies. Select NEWS >> then NEWSLETTER LIBRARY from the dropdown menu >> Select FEDERAL TAX UPDATES.

• RIA Tax Watch (RIA Checkpoint) - Developments in tax legislation, published daily by RIA. Select NEWS >> then NEWSLETTER LIBRARY from the dropdown menu >> Select RIA TAX WATCH.

• Regulations.gov E-Mail Alerts - Online government-run database of all proposed and final rules, comments, notices, etc. promulgated by executive agencies. Regulations can be searched by keyword or ID number, comments can be viewed for each regulation, and regulation tracking can be set up to alert users by E-mail when there is activity on a chosen regulation.

Blogs

• TaxProf Blog
• 21st Century Taxation
• Procedurally Taxing

Podcast

Learning Exercises

• Federal Tax Research - CALI.org (CALI login required)
  • Learning module with explanations and questions to familiarize oneself with legislative, administrative, and judicial sources of federal tax law.

The IRS publishes circulars or guides on specific areas or aspects of tax law (e.g. Armed Forces taxation, Employer's Guide to Tax, Travel & Entertainment tax treatment etc.). These publications breakdown aspects of tax law and its treatment by the IRS. They include updates on the current state of the law and the IRS' current implementation of an aspect of the code, as well as reminders and examples of tax treatment in different situations.

Research Guides

• Tax Research - Federal (Georgetown Law Library), guide on where to find tax materials and how to use them. Includes information on specialized resources, treatises, handbooks, legislative history, and using primary law.
   
• Federal Tax (Duke Law Library), guide include an intro to research sources and materials, an overview of relevant tax databases such as Checkpoint & CCH Intelliconnect, and descriptions of authoritative treatises on general and specialized areas of tax law research (e.g. estate & gift tax, income tax, corporate taxation, and state taxation).
   
• Federal Tax Research (NYU Law Library), comprehensive guide to performing tax research (federal, international and foreign) with breakdowns and explanations for each resource. Also includes extra information on tax law citations, professional tax organizations, research training.

Research Manuals

In tax law research, conference papers, presentations, and discussions can be incredibly useful in order to determine the accepted interpretation of tax laws, to determine trends, and to stay up-to-date on new procedures, rulings, and news in the tax law practice industry.