Research Guides: Accounting: Acct 760 Federal Tax Research

Introduction

This guide explains how to access and use federal tax research resources available to the QC community.
It mainly makes reference to the library subscribed databases.
QC website (click on the menu at top right to see the QCL link)
QC Library website -> Research -> Databases -> Subjects (Accounting)
CUNY Libraries databases
Remote Access to QCL databases

Links to printed materials and free sources for federal tax research are also provided where available.

QC Library A-Z Databases

Databases for Accounting Subject

Major library databases for federal tax research:

Bloomberg Tax This link opens in a new window Bloomberg Tax products provide legal, tax, compliance, government affairs, and government contracting professionals with critical information, practical guidance, and workflow solutions. Catalogue Link: OneSearch. 
Users are required to create an account and MUST use their Queens College email to Register!
Access is available to 100 concurrent users.
CCH AnswerConnect This link opens in a new window CCH AnswerConnect provides access to all the information you need in one location, including related materials on new or updated regulations, explanations, cases, IRS publications, forms; instructions and time-saving practice tools to help support your research.Catalogue Link: OneSearch 
Select the Subscribers Log in Here button on the Top Right to be automatically authenticated.
Checkpoint Edge This link opens in a new window Checkpoint provides fast access to thoroughly integrated and up-to-date research materials, editorial insight, productivity tools, online learning, news updates, and marketing resources. Checkpoint access includes AICPA Professional Library & FASB. Catalogue Link: OneSearch. 
Access to products within Checkpoint Edge:
1. AICPA Professional Library: 15 users
2. FASB: 9 users
3. Checkpoint: 35 users
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Nexis Uni offers intuitive searching for all levels of research experience, empowering students to Access discipline-focused pages with curated news, featured publications, and relevant court cases for Political Science, Business, and Criminal Justice majors.  Catalogue Link: OneSearch.

Websites for federal tax research:

Journals

E-Journals

Federal Tax Research by Gail Levin Richmond The Eighth Edition features expanded coverage of electronic sources, both subscription-based (such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, Checkpoint, CCH IntelliConnect, and HeinOnline) and those available without charge (particularly those provided by the government). It discusses factors to be considered in deciding between print and online research; chapters discussing primary sources illustrate several online sources for finding these materials.This book devotes considerable space to publicly available IRS documents and legislative history materials. The introductory materials illustrate solving a research problem, and there are problems for students to solve throughout the text. The Eighth Edition expands the number of illustrations that complement its textual discussions. A teacher s manual will be available.
ISBN: 9781599417424
Publication Date: 2010-04-20
Federal Income Taxation of Individuals in a Nutshell by John McNulty; Daniel Lathrope How and when is income taxable? To whom is it taxable? This Nutshell summarizes U.S. federal income tax law, defines income, and identifies the different types of deductions. Explains statutory inclusion and exclusion from gross income, profit-related deductions, mixed deductions, personal deductions, and other allowances.
ISBN: 9780314927002
Publication Date: 2011-11-14

It's good practice to analyze a tax issue by reviewing the sources in the following order:

Internal Revenue Code
Treasury Regulations
IRS Rulings and Decisions
Case Law

You can begin your research process with secondary sources, but you should analyze a tax problem by following the above basic steps.

Federal Tax Sources

Primary sources contain the law created by one of the branches of government
Secondary sources are any source that explains, analyzes, or comments on a primary source

Branch	Type	Source
Legislative	Code / Statutory Law	Internal Revenue Code (IRC) - - Federal tax law begins with the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), enacted by Congress in Title 26 of the United States Code (26 U.S.C.). it is amended from time to time Other Federal Statutes International Tax Treaties U.S. Constitution
Executive	Regulations	Treasury Regulations (26 C.F.R.) - commonly referred to as Federal tax regulations - issued by the Department of Treasury to pick up where the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) leaves off by providing the official interpretation of the IRC by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Executive	Administrative Publications	IRS Administrative Documents (Rulings, Procedures, etc.) Revenue Rulings are public administrative rulings by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that apply the law to particular factual situations or refer to issues not adequately addressed by the code, regulations, or case law. A revenue ruling can be relied upon as precedent by all taxpayers. Revenue rulings are published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) which is available in CCH AnswerConnect (formerly CCH IntelliConnect), and Checkpoint Edge (formerly RIA Checkpoint).
Judicial	Case Law	Case Law: Tax Court Memorandum (TCM) - Court decisions deal with substantive tax matters usually where there is a dispute between the IRS and the taxpayer regarding the code. This is often an area that has not been addressed by the courts. TCM are available in CCH AnswerConnect (formerly CCH IntelliConnect), and Checkpoint Edge (formerly RIA Checkpoint). Federal Cases from: Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeals District Courts Court of Federal Claims United States Tax Court

Type	Description
Handbooks, Deskbooks & Guides	Handbooks and guides provide short overviews of the tax law, often with simple annotations and cross references. These are geared for practitioners, but can be a good starting point for someone starting out in tax research.
Tax Services	Tax services are comprehensive tools that are used to locate all the relevant primary authority related to a particular tax issue.
Citators	Citators can be used to track the history of a case, as well as to see which cases subsequently cited it. There are specialized citators for tax law, and in addition to providing the history of a case and the cases that cited it, these also provide citations to all the relevant administrative rulings, decision and other documents by the IRS.
Treatises	Treatises are comprehensive publications on specific areas of tax law, including detailed history of the law, analysis and commentary. Like handbooks and guides, these can be a good starting point for research, but they go into much more depth than the handbooks and guides.
Journal Articles	Articles written by scholars and practitioners about specific issues in specific areas of tax law.

CCH AnswerConnect

Navigate CCH AnswerConnect (formerly CCH IntelliConnect)

Checkpoint Edge

Navigate Checkpoint Edge (formerly RIA Checkpoint)

Citing Tax Sources

See the American Bar, The Tax Lawyer, Citation and Style Manual.

A Short Survey

Thank you for participating in the library session for ACCT 760 IRS Ethical Tax Practice, Procedures and Research Methods.

Please complete a short survey (https://forms.office.com/r/Cnh94tXcbf), which will take less than 5 minutes, to help us better meet your needs.

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Accounting