TAX LAW RESEARCH GUIDE Karen E. Kalnins kkalnins@okcu.edu Reference Librarian Oklahoma City University Law Library Last Updated 2/1/10 Introduction and Purpose The 16 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave the U.S. Congress power to collect taxes. Since that time, a federal income tax has existed. Similar to other areas of the law, tax law consists of statutes, regulations and other administrative materials, legislative history materials, and court decisions. This guide will outline the print and electronic resources available at the OCU Law Library. The guide will also mention freely available electronic resources but is not all-inclusive and not meant as legal advice. Background Tax law is a complicated area of the law because it includes a great deal of sources and documents. Some of these sources are unique to tax law while others exist in other areas of the law as well. To learn more about tax law go to http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/tax or http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_tax. Tax Law Research As with most legal research the facts will determine the resources you use and where you begin. OCU Resources Below is a sample list of materials you may find helpful when researching a tax law issue. These resources are available electronically or at the Oklahoma City University Law Library. This list is not all-inclusive. Secondary Materials *Note-Check each title for specific holdings and availability. Treatises/Hornbooks Treatises are written for practitioners and present background information about specific topics. Hornbooks present similar information but are more general and cater to law students. If you are not familiar with tax law, beginning with a treatise or other secondary source may be a wise decision. 1. Federal Tax Research: Guide to Materials and Techniques /Gail Levin Richmond is on permanent reserve at KF241.T38 R5 2007; older editions are available on the third floor. 2. Federal Tax Research /Joni Larson is available at KF241.T38 L37 2007. 3. U.S. Federal Tax Research /Peter Lowy is available at KF6289.A1 T35 no.100. 4. West s Tax Law Dictionary /is available in the reference wing at KF6287.S65 date. 1
5. Law of Federal Income Taxation /Jacob Mertens is available at KF6365.M34 date. 6. Federal Taxation of Income, Estates, and Gifts /Boris Bittker is available at KF6335.B48 1999 and in Westlaw. 7. United States Tax Reporter /RIA is available at KF6285.P7 and electronically via RIA Checkpoint. 8. How to do Federal Tax Research with the United States Tax Reporter /RIA is available at KF6285.P7 H65 1994. 9. Gertzman Federal Tax Accounting /Stephen Gertzman is available electronically via Westlaw. 10. Rabkin & Johnson Federal Tax Guidebook /Alan Prigel is available electronically via LexisNexis. 11. Federal Tax Liens /David Schmudde is available at KF6316.P55 2001. 12. Federal Tax Procedure and Practice /Leandra Lederman is available electronically via LexisNexis. 13. West s Federal Tax Research /William Raabe is available at KF241.T38 R33 1997. Journals/Law Reviews Journal and law review articles provide researchers with an excellent starting point because the authors usually analyze an issue in-depth and give detailed citation information. The following are accessible either in print or in one of the subscription databases available from the Law Library s databases page at 1. Tax Law Journal is available from vol. 1 (1982) to vol. 4 (1990) in the library s periodicals wing. 2. Tax Law Review is available from vol. 1 (1945) to present in the library s periodicals wing and electronically via the subscription databases Hein Online (1945-present), Westlaw (1988-present), and LexisNexis (2004-present). 3. Tax Lawyer is available from vol. 21 (1967) to present in the library s periodicals wing and electronically via the subscription database Hein Online (1967-present) and LegalTrac (2006-present). 4. Practical Tax Lawyer is available from vol. 4 (1989) to vol. 23 (2009) in the library s periodicals wing and electronically via the subscription database LexisNexis (1981-present), Hein Online (1986-2003), and Westlaw (1999- present). 2
5. Taxation for Lawyers is available from vol. 1 (1972) to vol. 27 (1998) in the library s periodicals wing. Forms Forms and form books are a helpful place for attorneys and non-attorneys alike to find documents that they can use as guides or templates when drafting similar documents. 1. Major Tax Planning is available at KF6297.A5 T39 date. 2. AmJur Legal Forms is available electronically via the subscription database Westlaw. 3. Current Legal Forms (Rabkin and Johnson) is available electronically via the subscription database LexisNexis. 4. West s Legal Forms is available via the subscription database Westlaw. 5. McGaffey Legal Forms with Tax Analysis is available via the subscription database Westlaw. Primary Materials *Note-Check each title for specific holdings and availability. The materials listed below are primary federal and state legal authority. Federal Statutory Materials 1. U.S.C. (U.S. Code) is available in print at KF62 1958.A2 and electronically via various Web sites such as http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ and http://uscode.house.gov/. 2. U.S.C.A. (U.S. Code Annotated) is available in the library at KF62.5.W45 and electronically via the subscription database Westlaw. 3. U.S.C.S. (U.S. Code Service) is available in the library at KF62.5.L38 and electronically via the subscription database LexisNexis. Federal Legislative History Materials 1. Thomas has legislative history materials freely available at http://www.thomas.gov. 2. LexisNexis Congressional is a subscription database that contains legislative history materials. It is available from the OCU Law Library s databases page at 3. Hein Online is a subscription database that contains compiled legislative histories and citations to compiled legislative histories. This database is available through the OCU Law Library s databases page at 3
4. USCCAN (U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News) is available in the library at KF48.U54 date and electronically in the subscription database Westlaw. 5. U.S. Statutes at Large are available in the library at KF50.U52 and in the subscription database Hein Online. 6. The OCU Law Library has legislative histories in print that you can search for in the Library Catalog at http://lawlibdb.okcu.edu/vwebv/searchbasic?sk=lawdb. 7. Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) publishes its yearly Bluebook http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=select&id=9. 8. Seidman s Legislative History of Federal Income Tax Laws /J.S. Seidman is available electronically via Hein Online. 9. The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations /Thomas Hyatt is KF6495.H4 H93 2001. 10. Elliot Federal Tax Collections, Liens & Levies /William Elliot is available electronically via Westlaw. 11. Federal Income Tax of Life Insurance Companies /Richard Antes is available electronically via LexisNexis. Federal Administrative Materials 1. C.F.R. (Code of Federal Regulations) is available in print at KF70.A3 date and electronically via the subscription databases LexisNexis and Westlaw. The publication is also freely available via the government Web site http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html. 2. Federal Register is available in print at KF 70.A2 date and electronically via the subscription databases LexisNexis and Westlaw. The publication is also freely available via the government Web site http://origin.www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Materials 1. Technical Advice Memoranda (TAMs) are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, CCH, and the IRS Web site. 2. General Counsel Memoranda (GCs) are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, CCH, and the IRS Web site. 3. Private Letter Rulings (PLRs) are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, CCH, and the IRS Web site. 4. Revenue Procedures are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, and the IRS Web site. 4
5. Revenue Rulings are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, CCH, and the IRS Web site. 6. Actions on Decisions are available electronically via Westlaw, LexisNexis, RIA, CCH, and the IRS Web site. Federal Case Law 1. U.S. Reports are available in Lower Level North and the Second Floor of the Law Library and electronically via the subscription database Hein Online. 2. Supreme Court Reporter is available in Lower Level North and electronically via the subscription database Westlaw. 3. U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition are available in Lower Level North and electronically via the subscription database LexisNexis. 4. Federal Reporter 1 st, 2d, 3d is available in Lower Level North and electronically via the subscription databases Westlaw and LexisNexis. 5. Federal Supplement 1 st and 2d is available in Lower Level North and via the subscription databases Westlaw and LexisNexis. Specialized Electronic Tax Databases 1. IntelliConnect (formerly CCH)-This database can be accessed from the OCU Law Library s databases page 2. RIA Checkpoint- This database can be accessed from the OCU Law Library s databases page Web Sites 1. http://www.irs.gov Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 2. http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/ U.S. Tax Court 3. http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/ U.S. Court of Federal Claims 4. http://www.jct.gov/ The Joint Committee on Taxation 5. http://www.ustreas.gov/ U.S. Department of Treasury Other Research Guides Below are research guides about tax law from other law libraries and institutions that you may find helpful. 1. http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/fedtax Duke Law Library s guide about federal tax research. 2. http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/federal_tax.cfm Georgetown University has a tax law research guide. 5
3. http://www.bu.edu/lawlibrary/research/tax/index.html Boston University s tax law research guide. 4. http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/webtax.html University of Washington s Web-Based Tax Research Guide. 5.http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/research/guides/united_states/tax/index.htm l Harvard University Law Library s tax law research guide. Karen E. Kalnins Last updated 2/1/10 6