Tax Law
A guide to federal tax law research.
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I.R.C. Archives
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Internal Revenue Code Archives1913, 1939, 1954 and 1986-2020 IRC versions
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Internal Revenue Code of 1939
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Internal Revenue Code of 1954
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Standard Federal Tax Reporter(HeinOnline)
Coverage: 1917-1985.
Comprehensive collection of federal income tax information including full text of all proposed, temporary and final federal income tax law regulations, as well as full text of federal administrative rulings and documents. -
Archives: Standard Federal Tax Reporter(VitalLaw (Wolters Kluwer))
Coverage: 1986 to date.
Comprehensive collection of federal income tax information including full text of all proposed, temporary and final federal income tax law regulations, as well as full text of federal administrative rulings and documents.
Legislative History
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Complete Analysis of the Tax Acts (RIA)1996 through the most recent tax act
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HeinOnline: Tax Legislative Histories
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Internal Revenue Acts of the United States, 1909-1950: Legislative Histories, Laws, and Administrative Documents
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Internal Revenue Acts of the United States: 1950-1951 Legislative Histories, Laws and Administrative Documents
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Internal revenue acts of the United States: the Revenue Act of 1954 with Legislative Histories and Congressional Documents
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Internal Revenue Code Historical Notes (RIA)The full text of the historical notes of RIA's Complete Internal Revenue Code, which provide legislative history for the Code dating back to 1954.
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Internal Revenue Code Legislative HistoriesOrganized by code section number.
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Legislative History of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 Covering All Changes Made in the Code from the Date of its Enactment on August 16, 1954, to the End of the First Session of the 89th Congress in 1965
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ProQuest CongressionalProvides access to Legislative Histories (1969-present); Congressional Reports (1819-present); Congressional Hearings (published and unpublished) (1824-present); Congressional Committee Prints (1830-present); U.S. Congressional Serial Set and American State Papers from 1789-1969; and CRS Reports (1916-present). Also contains member biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and financial data.
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ProQuest Legislative InsightProvides full-text digital access to congressional publications created during the legislative process leading up to the enactment of a U.S. public law.
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Seidman's Legislative History of Excess Profits Tax Laws, 1946-1917
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Seidman's Legislative History of Federal Income and Excess Profits Tax Laws, 1953-1939
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Seidman's Legislative History of Federal Income Tax Laws, 1938-1861
Treasury Regulations
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Standard Federal Tax Reporter(HeinOnline)
Coverage: 1917-1985.
Comprehensive collection of federal income tax information including full text of all proposed, temporary and final federal income tax law regulations, as well as full text of federal administrative rulings and documents. -
Archives: Standard Federal Tax Reporter(VitalLaw (Wolters Kluwer))
Coverage: 1986 to date.
Comprehensive collection of federal income tax information including full text of all proposed, temporary and final federal income tax law regulations, as well as full text of federal administrative rulings and documents. -
Internal Revenue Bulletin (I.R.B.) & Cumulative Bulletin (C.B.)The authoritative instrument of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for announcing official rulings and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax Conventions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of general interest. The Internal Revenue Service ceased publishing the IRS Cumulative Bulletin (C.B.) in 2008.
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Treasury Decisions (T.D.)Example: T.D. 9980
Final and proposed regulations are issued as Treasury Decisions before codification in the Code of Federal Regulations. Treasury Decisions contain explanatory preambles which are not included in the C.F.R. and are published in the Federal Register and the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
Court Decisions
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Tax Court Summary OpinionsSummary Opinions are issued by the Small Cases division where the amount in controversy is $50,000 or less. They cannot be relied on as precedent and the decision cannot be appealed.
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Tax Court Memorandum OpinionsMemorandum Opinions are the "unpublished" opinions of the Tax Court and usually involve questions of fact where the law is well settled.
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Tax Court Regular OpinionsRegular Opinions are "published" decisions of the Tax Court designated by the Chief Judge of the Tax Court as containing novel or important issues.
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Board of Tax Appeals (B.T.A.) Opinions (1924-1942)The predecessor of the United States Tax Court. Prior to 1942, the BTA was the prepayment forum for taxpayers who wanted judicial review of the IRS’ determination of deficiencies in income, excess profits, and estate and gift taxes.
For additional information on locating federal court opinions, consult the following Library research guides:
Other Publications
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Taxation & Economic Reform in America, Parts I & II (HeinOnline)Historical archive of legislative history materials and other documents. Includes the complete Carlton Fox Collection which contains nearly 42 years of historical legislation related to the internal revenue laws from 1909-1950 as well as more than 100 other legislative histories related to taxation, economic reform, and stimulus plans.