PRACTICE AREA FUNDAMENTALS

Tax Law Fundamentals

P R O F E S S I O N A L L E G A L R E S E A R C H

Tax law is the body of law governing taxation, including theInternal Revenue Code and state taxation statutes; rules, regulations,and decisions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and statedepartments of revenue; and judicial decisions interpreting taxcodes, rules, and regulations. This quick reference guide highlightsthe tax law resources on Westlaw and shows you how to retrieverelevant documents.

Tax LawTax law practice typically involves issues such as the determinationof income and exclusions, deductions, depreciation, accountingmethods, valuation, and capital gains and losses. Tax considerationsare frequently part of the decision-making process in other practiceareas, including business and estate planning, real estatetransactions, pension plans, and bankruptcy. Federal, state, orinternational tax law may apply.

Tax law resources on WestlawWestlaw includes an extensive collection of tax law materials,including federal and state primary law, secondary sources,international materials, forms, and briefs. In each category listedbelow, a few key databases are highlighted. These databases andother tax-related resources can be accessed at the tabbed Tax page,shown on the following page.

Remember that the easiest way to retrieve a specific document whenyou know the citation is to use the Find service. Click Find a FederalTax Document or Find a State Tax Document in the Shortcutssection of the Tax page to display fill-in-the-blank Find templates.

Statutes and regulationsThe Federal Taxation–U.S. Code Annotated database (FTX-USCA)contains federal tax statutes. The Federal Taxation–Code of FederalRegulations database (FTX-CFR) contains federal tax regulationspromulgated under statutory authority.

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Administrative releasesReleases and decisions from the IRS interpret laws andregulations and are an important component of tax lawresearch. A variety of releases and decisions databases areavailable, enabling you to limit your search to a particulardocument type or search databases that combine multipledocument types. The Federal Taxation–IRS CombinedReleases database (FTX-RELS) is the broadest databasecombining multiple types of releases and decisions. ClickView Taxation Directory in the Shortcuts section of the Taxpage to view a complete list of tax databases.

Case lawCourt decisions that construe and review tax laws,regulations, and IRS decisions are another important sourceof information when you research tax law. The FederalTaxation–Cases database (FTX-CS) includes cases from thefederal courts that relate to federal taxation.

Secondary sourcesThe Taxation–Law Reviews, Texts, and Bar Journalsdatabase (TX-TP) includes analytical texts, law reviews, andlegal periodicals that discuss tax law. If you are unfamiliarwith tax law, you may find the American Jurisprudence 2ddatabase (AMJUR) a helpful starting point. The Law ofFederal Income Taxation (Mertens) database (MERTENS)contains the full text of the treatise Law of Federal IncomeTaxation, which analyzes federal tax law by explaining theintent of Congress in drafting the Internal Revenue Code,what the Code means, and how the IRS has interpreted it.

State tax law materialsState tax statutes are contained in the Individual StateTaxation Statutes databases (XXTX-ST) and state taxregulations are contained in the Individual State TaxRegulations databases (XXTX-ADC), where XX is a state’stwo-letter postal abbreviation, e.g., CATX-ST or CATX-ADC.

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Tax page

To retrieve a specific federal taxdocument when you know thecitation but are unsure of adocument’s citation format,click Find a Federal TaxDocument to display a varietyof Find templates for federaldocuments. To display Findtemplates for state taxdocuments, click Find a StateTax Document.

Click View Taxation Directoryto view a complete list of taxdatabases.