J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax Professional Edition 2017

Part 9 Tax Law Authorities

The federal income tax law is based on statutes passed by Congress. The statutes are organized into a Code, which is currently cited as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Ideally, there should be no need for legal sources other than the Code. This may be true where a statute as passed by Congress is so clear and specific that no one doubts its application. However, in the many cases where the wording of a statute in the Code is general and may be interpreted in several ways, you must seek interpretations that may help you resolve a tax question or support your point of view in a tax dispute. Authoritative interpretations are made by the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service in regulations and rulings and by federal courts in specific decisions. The relative authoritativeness of these sources is discussed in this part.

1. Legislative Authorities
   1. Internal Revenue Code
   2. Congressional Committee Reports
2. Administrative Authorities
   1. Treasury Regulations
   2. Revenue Rulings
   3. Other IRS Rulings and Releases
3. Judicial Authorities
   1. Court Decisions
   2. U.S. Tax Court
   3. Federal District Court
   4. U.S. Court of Federal Claims
   5. Court of Appeals Decisions
   6. Supreme Court Decisions
   7. States Within Court of Appeals Regions

Legislative Authorities

Internal Revenue Code

The 1986 Tax Act redesignated the Internal Revenue Code as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The prior designation date was 1954.

The title of the Code remains fixed with the date 1986, although sections of the ...