Chapter 2

A tax research issue in which the practitioner must determine whether a pertinent question of fact was satisfied by the taxpayer; for example, determining whether an election was filed with the government in a timely manner, or determining what the taxpayer's motivation was for the redemption of some corporate stock.

A tax research question in which one must determine which provision of the federal tax law applies to the client's fact situation. This entails the evaluation of various statutory, administrative, and judicial provisions with respect to the client's circumstances; for example, whether the client's charitable contribution is subject to the 30-percent-of-adjusted-gross-income limitation.

The primary statutory source of the federal tax law, a collection of laws that have been passed by Congress and incorporated in Title 26 of the U.S. Code. The code was last reorganized in 1954. It is presently known as the ... ... ... of 1986. The chief subdivision of the code is the section.

When a fact or issue has been determined by valid judgment, that fact or issue cannot be litigated again by the same parties in future litigation.

An element of the federal tax law that was issued by Congress, the Department of the Treasury, the IRS, or a federal court.

The Constitution, tax treaties, and the Internal Revenue Code are the ... sources of the federal tax law. They have the presumption of correctness unless a court modifies or overturns a provision in response to a taxpayer challenge. In this regard, legislative intent and history can be important in supporting the taxpayer's case.

Federal tax law that is created by the appropriate use of power that is granted to the U.S. Treasury Department by Congress. These sources of the law have a presumption of the authority of the statute, but they are subject to taxpayer challenge. Such sources include regulations, rulings, revenue procedures, and other opinions that are used by the Treasury Department of the IRS.

Certain federal court decisions that have the force of the statute in constructing the federal tax law. The magnitude of this authority depends upon the level and location of the courts that issued the opinions.

An element of the federal tax law that was issued by the scholarly or professional writer, for example, in a textbook, journal article, or treatise, and thus carries less precedential weight than elements of the tax law issued by primary sources.

A periodic publication that addresses legal, factual, and procedural issues encountered in a modern tax practice. As a secondary source of federal tax law, analyses in ... ... can be used in support of a taxpayer's case before a government agency or, especially, before a court.

A means of conveying the location of a document.

An online database used to conduct tax research using search terms and queries to search vast amounts of data from legislative, administrative, and judicial sources of tax law.