Solving Tax Research Puzzles (Currently Unavailable)

Author: Jennifer Kowal

With high client demands for fast results, it is more important than ever to perform tax research accurately, thoroughly and efficiently. Frequent, complicated changes to the tax law mean that even experienced tax professionals often need to research tax questions. Despite our tendency to internet keyword search every question these days, this is not a great strategy for tax research, as keyword searching without a frame of reference (or knowledge of the right keywords) is often the least efficient and effective way to answer tax research questions. This course teaches a systematic research methodology that tax researchers may use in order to identify and analyze tax issues efficiently, accurately and thoroughly.

Publication Date: January 2019

Designed For
Tax practitioners at all levels who perform tax research.

Topics Covered

• Take a transactional approach to answering research questions to efficiently identify all important tax issues
• The different types of primary sources of tax law, and their hierarchy of authority
• How to use secondary sources and annotations efficiently
• How to use explanations and annotations to find the most relevant primary authorities
• When and how to use legislative history in their tax research
• How to stay on track throughout the research process and how to prepare a research outline
• Ethical considerations in performing tax research and formulating conclusions

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate types of primary sources of tax law and the hierarchy of authority
• Identify situations where editorial and secondary sources are most useful
• Describe how to use the IRC and Treasury Regulations as a jumping off point for tax research
• Recognize and gain familiarity with different types of tax law legislative history
• Recognize the first consideration when assessing the best method for answering a research question
• Identify a current tactic for researching tax issues that was not prevalent in the "old age"
• Describe sources and heirarchy of authority
• Recognize primary law
• Identify a legislative primary source of authority
• Differentiate useful sources from the IRS
• Describe components of legislative history which tends to be very useful since it addresses the law as it is enacted
• Identify the first step in developing a research plan
• Describe questions which should be asked before writing up your conclusions
• Recognize ethical standards relating to a one-third likelihood that the position will be sustained on its merits
• Identify one of the tips for a good tax memo
• Differentiate which sources of tax information is not included within the library of the old days
• Describe an example of a treatises and other secondary source
• Identify a tactic of the old age that is a great way to research, but now is done electronically
• Describe what outlines details of how to analyze the tax issues involved in various types of transactions or situations
• Identify a periodical as it relates to secondary sources of authority
• Identify the bullseye as it relates to the tax research target
• Recognize where the Internal Revenue Code is included within which title of the USC
• Identify regulations issued pursuant to a specific grant of authority in a Code section
• Describe the organization which issues Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures
• Describe what you should do once you have stated the facts when developing a research plan

Level
Intermediate

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (4 hours)

Program Prerequisites
Basic experience with tax research.

Advance Preparation
None