Welcome to an introductory research guide to federal income tax!
We will look at paid and free resources to understand the options you have and the processes that can be delved into for effective legal research for your tax needs.
This is a practice guide designed to assist you in introductory federal income tax information and tricks to find the most useful and beneficial materials for your research needs! Concerned you don't know what you're doing, or don't know where to turn for a confusing topic regarding individual income tax? Have no fear, this guide is here!
This guide primarily focuses on simple taxation research, predominantly individual federal income taxation. While it does not explicitly focus on S or C corporations, the materials gathered can still provide adequate information on these subjects. If there is an issue regarding a company's information or you're searching for the latest 8-K from a major industry giant, this guide will not directly aim toward your cause.
However, if you are looking to find:
- IRS Code documents
- Individual filing information
- Cases on taxation and from U.S. Tax Courts
- Useful resources for writing and document construction regarding tax
- Ways to get certified through different resources and subscription research services
then this is the right place for you.
This guide will be dedicated to facilitating access, focusing on resources and where to find answers to questions. As well, I will provide search strategies to focus on process and how to make effective searches.
The guide will be split into seven different sections: FAQ, Certifications, Basic Information, Forms, Cases, Secondary Sources, and Additional Help. This will be organized in such a way so as to provide users with multiple ways--some better than others--to find the right information and get on the best research track. The FAQ section will provide general legal research information so as to allow incredibly new legal researchers some basic answers to crucial introductory questions.
Within each section, I will also discuss Bloomberg, Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Free Use options. The goal here is to provide inexperienced practitioners with various options depending on their firm, school, or company's subscriptions, or if they are just a lay individual who wants to learn about their income taxes. While tailored to inexperienced law students, if you are just wanting to know more about income tax and don't have access to the more expensive subscription services, there are free options in almost every category for obtaining useful information!
Feel free to click around to (1) see which resources have the most beneficial materials for what you need, (2) learn more about income tax research, and (3) have a fun time discovering (hopefully) new ways to use your subscription service or internet browser.
