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Federal Tax Law Research: Secondary Sources

A starter's research guide to the resources and tools available when researching federal tax law, with emphasis on primary law sources, administrative law materials, major tax law databases, and major secondary tax law sources.

Tax Databases

Secondary sources can also be found in the major tax research databases mentioned throughout this guide.

Select Table of Contents at the top, then select Federal Library >> Federal Editorial Materials. Under these editorial materials you will find practice manuals and guides, newsletters, treatises and journals, and other practice aids.

Select Federal Tax from the faceted list on the right, then select Federal Tax Editorial Content. The provided content includes quick answers to tax questions, treatises (e.g. U.S. Master Tax Guide), tax research consultant and topical indices for secondary sources like the Master Tax Guide. You can also select Federal Tax Practice Tools below the Editorial Content to access more practical resources such as practitioner toolkits, sample documents, and interactive research aids.

On the landing page, scroll through the Expert Analysis, News and Journals and Practice Tools boxes. Tax portfolios found under the Expert Analysis box contain invaluable expert created treatments of specific tax areas with additional commentary and working papers to assist you in analyzing these issues. Leading tax journals and reviews as well as newsletters can be found under News and Journals. Under Practice Tools you can find tax calendars, samples documents, reference charts, and diagrams.

Tax Treatises

The Law Library collection includes dozens of texts on federal taxation. Peruse our Treatise Finder pages to find introductory, in-depth, and current awareness resources.

Practice Guides & Manuals

Journals & Law Reviews

Top Tax Law Reviews & Journals


The following titles are the most cited law reviews and journals in the tax practice area. All the journals below can be accessed via HeinOnline.

Source: 2003-2020 Tax Journal Rankings, TaxProf Blog.

Other Sources for Law Reviews & Journals


Practitioner News & Insights