Internal Revenue Code

Internal Revenue Code

About Internal Revenue Code: The Internal Revenue Code Of 1986 (IRC) is an enactment or legislation passed by Congress that specifies what income is to be taxed, how it is to be taxed, and what may be deducted from taxable income. Court cases, regulations, revenue rules, and revenue procedures attempt to properly interpret the Internal Revenue Code. The code has been significantly amended by such federal laws as the tax reform acts of 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993 and many others in the following years. See Internal Revenue Code (including section 1031).

A Tax Code from the U.S.

Prior to 1939, Congress passed tax laws in the form of a series of self-contained revenue acts. In 1939, Congress passed the IRC of 1939, which was the first wholly organized federal tax law. The IRC has been reorganized twice: in 1954 and in 1986. The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, contains the existing federal tax law and is codified in Title 26 of the United States Code. The IRC contains most of the statutes pertaining to income, estate and gift, excise and employment taxes.

The Code shows legislation passed by US Congress that specifies what income is to be taxed, how it is to be taxed, and what may be deducted from taxable income.

Internal Revenue Code Index

The IRC is divided into eleven subtitles, which are each further subdivided.

TITLE 26 – Internal Revenue Code

Subtitle A – Income Taxes
Subtitle B – Estate and Gift Taxes
Subtitle C – Employment Taxes
Subtitle D – Miscellaneous Excise Taxes
Subtitle E – Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes
Subtitle F – Procedure and Administration
Subtitle G – The Joint Committee on Taxation
Subtitle H – Financing of Presidential Election Campaigns
Subtitle I – Trust Fund Code
Subtitle J – Coal Industry Health Benefits
Subtitle K – Group Health Plan Requirements
Appendix (Rules)

Locating Sections of the IRC

Some of the best sources for locating Internal Revenue Code sections are the two looseleaf services discussed below. For general information on how to use the looseleaf services click here.

CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter

Internal Revenue Code sections are contained in the two companion volumes titled “Internal Revenue Code,” as well as in volumes 1-18. The Internal Revenue Code volumes contain the text of Internal Revenue Code sections, as well as an explanation of amendments to that section. You can look up a citation in the volumes or, if you need to find a relevant code citation, you should look in the topical index of volume 1 of the Internal Revenue Code volumes.

The index will direct you to the appropriate code section. Volume 1 also contains a Table of Contents listing all the Internal Revenue Code sections in order.

You can also look up a citation in volumes 1-18. The spines of volumes 1-18 list the Internal Revenue Code sections they cover. If you are searching for a relevant code citation you can also search the detailed topical index found in the separate index volume at the end of the set. The index will point you to a paragraph number. The entry designated by that paragraph number will include the text of the relevant IRC section.

The SFTR is also available on CCH Tax Research NetWork (available on the Harvard Law School Network and at some law firms). If you know the code section you are looking for, click on the Find By Citation link at the top of the screen, and type in the code section in the fields beginning with “IRC.” If you want to browse the Internal Revenue Code, click on the Federal Tab, then under Primary Sources click on the Internal Revenue Code link, and continue clicking on the relevant subtitle, chapter, and part links until you reach the code section in which you are interested. You can also search the IRC by checking the box in front of the Internal Revenue Code link and then entering search terms in the box at the top of the screen.

RIA United States Tax Reporter

Code sections are contained within the two-volume Internal Revenue Code set and the main compilation volumes. The IRC volumes contain the full text of the Internal Revenue Code along with a history of each amendment to a section since 1954. To find a code section, you can either look up a citation in the volumes or look for a citation in the topical index or in the list of all IRC sections in Volume I. The index will direct you to the appropriate code section.

You can also look up a citation in the compilation volumes, 3-15A. The spines of these volumes list the Internal Revenue Code sections which they contain. If you are searching for a relevant code section, you can also search the detailed topical index located in Volume 1, which will point you to an IRC section and to paragraph numbers addressing the topic in the compilation volumes.

The RIA Internal Revenue Code is also available on Westlaw in the following database: RIA-IRC. The database RIA-IRC contains the full text of RIA’s Complete Internal Revenue Code, which includes the entire Internal Revenue Code plus a searchable table of contents and legislative history (historical notes) dating back to 1954.

The USTR is also available on RIA Checkpoint (available on the Harvard Law School Network and at some law firms). If you know the code section you are looking for, on the left-hand side of the screen, under Find By Citation, click on “Code & Regs,” enter your citation and click Search. You can also search the IRC by checking the box in front of the Code entry under Primary Source Materials, entering search terms in the box at the top of the screen and clicking search.

Other Sources for Locating Sections of the IRC

  • Internal Revenue Code (book). This is an annual “stand-alone” publication of Title 26 in two volumes. There is an index at the back of the second volume. The United States Code is also available online at several sites.
  • United States Code Annotated, Title 26. Westlaw: Use Find and 26 usc __ or irc __; or search or browse in the (formerly) FTX-USCA database.
  • United States Code Service, Title 26. Lexis: Use Get a Document and then Get by Citation and IRC Sec. __ or 26 U.S.C. __; or search or browse in the FEDTAX;USCS database or in the FEDTAX;CODE database. The latter database does not provide case annotations.

Historical Versions of the Internal Revenue Code Index

Depending on when your controversy arose, you may need to locate prior versions of the tax laws. For example, for a tax event occurring in 1985, the controlling law would be the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended. See below for information on locating historical versions of the IRC.

Historical versions of the IRC are available in the following sources:

  • Historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code are available in print (in general, 1926 forward in some Universities, and see below).
  • Historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code are available online free. For example, in the U.S. Code platform of the Encyclopedia of Law.
  • Historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code are available online for a fee.

Historical versions of the Internal Revenue Code are available online for a fee in from the following vendors:

  • Westlaw: in the USCAYY databases, which include a database for every year from 1990-2003 that contains the Code as it appeared at the beginning of each year. To access the databases add the last two digits of the year to USCA to create the database identifier, i.e. USCA95. You can also look in the FTX-USC-OLD database which contains the IRC as it existed immediately prior to the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.(Note:In Westland now is different)
  • Lexis: in the CODES;USARCH databases which allow you to search the Code as it existed in any year from 1992-2003. Note: in Lexis Advance now is different
  • RIA Checkpoint (available on the Harvard Law School Network and at some law firms): Click on the “+” next to the “Archive Materials” on the right side of the search screen, check the box next to the relevant sources, enter keywords at the top of the screen and click on search.
  • CCH Tax Research NetWork.

Historical versions of the IRC are also available in print works that track changes in the Internal Revenue Codes:

  • Cumulative Changes in Internal Revenue Codes of 1939 and Tax Regulations Under the Code. This work contains reprints of the 1939 tax code sections and their amendments.
  • Cumulative Changes in Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and Tax Regulations Under the Code (1954). This work contains reprints of the 1954 tax code sections and their amendments.

Updating and Validating the Internal Revenue Code

Regardless of what source the researcher or practitioner use to locate a section of the IRC, he or she should always update and validate that section. In Shepard’s (on Lexis) the legal researcher must use the United States Code citation to validate a section of the Internal Revenue Code. In KeyCite (on Westlaw), however, the researcher can validate an Internal Revenue Code section with either the IRC citation or the United States Code citation.

For information on how to update and validate statutes, click here for information about Updating and Validating Statutes. In the entry about researching Federal and State statutes there is also a section on Updating Statutes and on Validating Statutes.

Resources

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