The book addresses various areas in which a researcher may be immersed everything from the legislative history of a statute to underlying regulations to interpretive case law. Along the way the book considers various types of tax-related court opinions, a myriad of government-generated documents, and law review articles and journals. Considerable attention is given to both the authoritative weight of each document and how it can be located. Research in international tax, a complex and dynamic area, is discussed in great detail. Finally, the book provides strategies for organizing information into a written document, such as a response to an information document request or a brief to be filed with the Tax Court. Throughout the pages of Federal Tax Research, examples of real-life situations, practice notes, research tips, and snippets of court opinions add breadth and life to the technical information. These illustrations of the practical application of the rules allow the researcher to become more effective by bridging the gap between research and the practice of law.

The Seventh Edition features coverage of electronic sources, both subscription-based (such as Westlaw, Lexis Nexis, and CCH Tax Research NetWork) and those available without charge (such as those provided by the government or academic institutions). It discusses factors to be considered in deciding online research; chapters discussing primary sources indicate several online sources for finding these materials. This book devotes considerable space to the many new IRS documents made available to the public since the last edition. It expands its coverage of treaties and international material; of congressional and executive agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office and General Accounting Office; and of subscription and free electronic sources. The Sixth Edition expands the number of illustrations that complement its textual discussions.