Research Paper

Tax Memorandum
To: File
From: Your Name
Date: Enter Date
Re: Client name and Tax Year.
Facts
Paraphrase the relevant facts. Remember that this is going to the client’s file and be reviewed and used by someone unfamiliar with the case.
Issue & Conclusion #1
Issue: State the most important issue in the form of a question?
Conclusion: Answer to the question above in one to two sentences.
Analysis 1
Explain here how you came to the conclusion above, relate back to the case and be sure to cite primary authority. Explain how that primary authority relates to the facts of this case. For example if you find a court case where the court findings are helpful to your argument explain how the facts in that case are similar to the facts of the client. This should be at least a paragraph or two in length for each source. At least one primary source per issue, all citations included in the memo inline. Inline citation example: “Pursuant to IRC§123 income earned by a taxpayer which is not related to blah blah blah would be taxable.” Repeat the same process for each issue.
Issue & Conclusion #2
Issue:
Conclusion:
Analysis 2
Issue & Conclusion #3
Issue:
Conclusion:
Analysis 3
Issue & Conclusion #4
Issue:
Conclusion:
Analysis 4
Issue & Conclusion #5
Issue:
Conclusion:
Analysis 5

Tax Memorandum

To: File

From: Your Name

Date: Enter Date

Re:
Client name and Tax Year.

Facts

Paraphrase the relevant facts. Remember that this is going to the client’s file and be reviewed and used by someone unfamiliar with the case.

Issue & Conclusion #1

Issue:

State the most important issue in the form of a question?

Conclusion:

Answer to the question above in one to two sentences.

Analysis 1

Explain here how you came to the conclusion above, relate back to the case and be sure to cite primary authority. Explain how that primary authority relates to the facts of this case. For example if you find a court case where the court findings are helpful to your argument explain how the facts in that case are similar to the facts of the client. This should be at least a paragraph or two in length for each source. At least one primary source per issue, all citations included in the memo inline. Inline citation example: “Pursuant to IRC§123 income earned by a taxpayer which is not related to blah blah blah would be taxable.” Repeat the same process for each issue.

Issue & Conclusion #2

Issue:
Conclusion:

Analysis 2

Issue & Conclusion #3

Issue:
Conclusion:

Analysis 3

Issue & Conclusion #4

Issue:
Conclusion:

Analysis 4

Issue & Conclusion #5

Issue:
Conclusion:

Analysis 5

Research Memo

Instructions:

The attached 

video

 helps to explain the assignment.

Use the attached file to find the assignment.

Mimi-Case

Purpose:  The purpose of this is to enable you to meet the following goals:

· Understand the role of a tax practitioner

· Identify the tax issues involved in a scenario

· Be able to conduct comprehensive tax research utilizing on-line tools in order to formulate a solution to the issues raised.

· Be able to articulate and defend a tax position in writing.

Task:   In order to successfully complete this assignment you must:

· Prepare a memorandum to the tax manager outlining the information you found in your research.

·  Format the memo to include:

· Restatement of Facts (paraphrase)

· Identify at least three main issues based on these facts

· Provide a conclusion for each issue

· Include the analysis that led you to the conclusion for each issue. This analysis should refer to the primary authority that best addresses the issue. 

· Primary authority would include items such as the Internal Revenue Code, Regulations, Court Cases, etc. These also should be paraphrased in order to highlight your understanding of the primary authority and how it relates specifically to the issue. Tax Topics and IRS publications are NOT primary source material. 

· Submit the assignment using a Turnitin assignment dropbox.

· Turnitin, is an online resource that checks your work against: the submissions of others, books, articles, tax code, etc., in order to verify originality of your content.  Given that everyone in the course is working on the same problem and using the same format, the service will likely find some similarity in your paper.  Upon submission you will be able to see your score immediately, as others submit their papers your score may increase.  Should you resubmit your paper, the originality score will not be viewable for 12-24 hours.  

· I use the information supplied by TurnItIn as well as my professional judgment to determine the originality of your paper. A high similarity rating is an indication of either plagiarism or insufficient original content on your part. Plagiarism is a serious violation of the student’s code of conduct and will be handled by the Student Affairs office. 

· I will accept late assignments for no more than 48 hours after the due date, with a 20% penalty.

The writing assignment will be graded based on grammar, style of writing, logical development of ideas, critical thinking skills, and technical accuracy of the analysis and conclusions, using a rubric, which is found below. 

Assignments will be evaluated on:

· Completion of assigned task (instructions)

· Quality of content and research

· Presentation of material

In order to access the FIU Library page for this course use the following link 

FIU Library.   (Links to an external site.)

Click on the search bar on the upper left hand section of the home page to find RIA Checkpoint or CCH Intelliconnect to conduct your research.

Examples of primary authority can be found in:

·

Primary Authority

·

Primary Authority_ADA ready

The following file can be used as an example of the proper format for the preparation of a tax research memo:

·

Tax Memo – Example x

·

Tax Memo Example_ADA ready.txt

Additional Information

·

Tax Research – Ch 2 Powerpoint

·

How to Submit an Assignment

Citation
 to
 Primary
 Authority
 
PRIMARY
 AUTHORITY
  CITATION
 
Committee
 Report
  House
 Committee
 on
 Ways
 and
 Means,
 H.Rep.
 No
 432,
 98th
 Cong.,
 2d
 Sess.
 (March
 5,
 1984).
 
Internal
 Revenue
 Code
  Sec.
 469
 (e)(1)(A).
 
 
 
Treasury
 Regulation
 –
 final
  Reg.
 Sec.
 1.269-­‐1(a)(3).
 
Treasury
 Regulation
 –
 proposed
  Prop.
 Reg.
 Sec.
 1.704-­‐3(c).
 
Treasury
 Regulation
 –
 temporary
  Temp.
 Reg.
 Sec.
 1.441-­‐1T(a)(2).
 
Revenue
 Ruling
 –
 temporary
 cite
  Rev.
 Rul.
 84-­‐101,
 1984-­‐28
 I.R.B.
 5.
 
Revenue
 Ruling
 –
 permanent
 cite
  Rev.
 Rul.
 54-­‐56,
 1954-­‐2
 C.B.
 108.
 
Revenue
 Procedure
 –
 temporary
 cite
  Rev.
 Proc.
 93-­‐15,
 1993-­‐3
 I.R.B.
 12.
 
Revenue
 Procedure
 –
 Permanent
 cite
 
  Rev.
 Proc.
 88-­‐12,
 1988-­‐1
 C.B.
 17.
 
Announcement
 –
 Temporary
 cite
  Ann.
 2011-­‐77,
 2001-­‐30
 I.R.B.
 83.
 
Announcement
 –
 Permanent
 cite
  Ann.
 2001-­‐77,
 2001-­‐2
 C.B.
 83.
 
Notice
 –
 Temporary
 citation
  Notice
 2002-­‐64,
 2002-­‐41
 I.R.B.
 690.
 
Notice
 –
 Permanent
 citation
  Notice
 2002-­‐64,
 2002-­‐2
 C.B.
 690.
 
Private
 Letter
 Ruling
  LTR
 8450056
 (PLR)
 or
 LTR
 200343030
 (PLR)
 
U.S.
 Tax
 Court-­‐
 regular
 decision
  J.B.
 Linderman,
 60
 T.C.
 609
 (1973)
 
U.S.
 Tax
 Court
 –
 memorandum
 decision
  Thomas
 E.
 Lesslie,
 36
 TCM
 495
 (1977),
 T.C.
 Memo
 ¶77,111.
 
Acquiescence
  Phillip
 G.
 Larson,
 66
 T.C.
 159
 (1976),
 acq.
 1979-­‐1
 C.B.
 1.
 
U.S.
 District
 Court
  Arnold
 v.
 U.S.,
 289
 F.
 Supp.
 206,
 68-­‐2
 USTC
 ¶9590,
 22
 A.F.T.R.2d
 5661
 (E.D.
 N.Y.,
 1968)
 
U.S.
 Court
 of
 Federal
 Claims
  Zuchman
 v.
 U.S.,
 524
 F.2d
 729,
 75-­‐2
 USTC
 ¶
 9778,
 36
 A.F.T.R.2d
 75-­‐6193
 (Cl.
 Ct.,
 1975)
 
U.S.
 Court
 of
 Appeals
  Comm.
 V.
 Percy
 W.
 Phillips,
 275
 F.
 2d
 33,
 60-­‐1
 USTC
 ¶9294,
 5
 A.F.T.R.2d
 855
 (4th
 Cir.,
 1960).
 
U.S.
 Supreme
 Court
  Commissioner
 v.
 Duberstein,
 363
 U.S.
 278,
 80
 S.
 St.
 1190,
 60-­‐2
 USTC
 ¶9515,
 5
 A.F.T.R.2d
 1626
 

(1960)
 

 
Temporary
 cite
 –
 Refers
 to
 Internal
 Revenue
 Bulletins
 which
 are
 published
 weekly.
 
 
 
Permanent
 cite
 –
 Refers
 to
 Cumulative
 Bulletin
 (C.B.)
 which
 is
 printed
 semiannually
 and
 includes
 IRS
 pronouncements,
 previously
 included
 in
 a
 
weekly
 bulletin.
 Citations
 should
 be
 to
 the
 C.B.
 unless
 it
 is
 not
 contained
 in
 the
 most
 recent
 C.B.
 
 
 
Acquiescence
 –
 Whenever
 the
 IRS
 indicates
 that
 it
 will
 accept
 the
 decision
 of
 the
 court,
 it
 should
 be
 included
 in
 the
 citation
 by
 adding
 acq.
 
followed
 by
 the
 citation
 to
 the
 bulletin
 where
 the
 acquiescence
 can
 be
 found.
 
 If
 the
 IRS
 indicates
 that
 it
 will
 not
 accept
 the
 ruling
 by
 
nonacquiescence
 this
 is
 also
 cited
 as
 nonacq.
 followed
 by
 reference
 to
 bulletin.
 

Tax Research, Practice,
and Procedure

Five-Step Research Method
1. Gather the facts and identify the tax issues.

2

. Locate and study the primary and secondary

authorities relevant to the enumerated tax issues.

3

. Update and evaluate the weight of the various

authorities.

4

. Re-examine various facets of the research.

5

. Arrive at conclusions; communicate these

conclusions to the client.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 3

2

Classification of Materials
• Primary or �authoritative�
• Internal Revenue Code (statutory authority)
• Treasury Regulations (administrative authority)
• Internal Revenue Service Rulings (administrative authority)
• Judicial Authority

• Secondary or �reference�
• Looseleaf tax reference services
• Periodicals
• Textbooks
• Treatises
• Published papers from tax institutes
• Symposia
• Newsletters

Chapter 2, Exhibit 1

3

Research Sources for
Legislative Authority

Authoritative
Documents

Research
Source

Authorship Binding Persuasive

1

6

th Amendment Constitution

Congress

Ö

Internal Revenue
Code

CCH, RIA,
and West tax
services

Congress Ö

Chapter 2, Exhibit 4a

4

Research Sources for
Legislative Authority

Authoritative
Documents

Research Source Authorship Binding Persuasive

Tax Treaties
(to render mutual
assistance between the
U.S. and foreign
countries in tax
enforcement and to
avoid double taxation.)

• Tax Treaties (CCH)
• Worldwide Tax

Treaty Library (Tax
Analysts)

• International Tax
Treaties of All
Nations (Oceana
Publications)

Congress Ö
(overrides

Code if
more

recent)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 4b

5

Research Sources for
Legislative Authority
Authoritative
Documents
Research Source Authorship Binding Persuasive

Committee Reports
(useful for determining
Congressional intent when
Code and Regs. are unclear)

§ Cumulative
Bulletins [CB]

(U.S.
Government.).

§ Internal Revenue
Bulletin [IRB] if
written within 6
months

§ House Ways
and Means
Committee

§ Senate
Finance
Committee

§ Joint
Conference
Committee

Ö
(no legal
effect; only
guidance)

Bluebook
(interprets new legislation)

Bluebook
(a government-issued,
blue-covered book)

Joint Committee
on Taxation

Ö
(no legal
effect; only
guidance)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 4c

6

Research Sources for
Administrative Authority

Authoritative Documents

Research Sources Authorship Binding Persuasive

Final Regulations
(Treasury Decisions)

§ Federal register
(U.S. Government.)

§ Tax services
(CCH, RIA and West).

U.S.
Treasury
Department

Ö

Temporary
Regulations
(issued without
opportunity for public
comment because
timing is critical)

§ Federal Register
(U.S. Government)

§ Cumulative Bulletin
(U.S. Government)

§ Tax services
(CCH, RIA, and West).

U.S.
Treasury
Department

Ö
(binding
if < 3 years old)

Ö
(nonbinding if
over 3 years old)

Proposed Regulations § Federal Register
(U.S. Government)

§ Cumulative Bulletin
(U.S. Government)

§ Tax services
(CCH, RIA, and West).

U.S.
Treasury
Department

Ö
(nonbinding
preview of final
Regs.)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 5a

7

Research Sources for
Administrative Authority
Authoritative
Documents
Research Sources Authorship Binding Persuasive

Revenue Rulings
(interprets tax laws)

Cumulative Bulletins
(U.S. Government)

National
office of
IRS

Ö
(not
approved by
the Treasury)

Revenue Procedures
(addresses internal
procedures of IRS)

Cumulative Bulletins
(U.S. Government)
National
office of
IRS
Ö
(not
approved by
the Treasury)

Letter Rulings
(explains how IRS will
treat a proposed
transaction for tax
purposes; issued to
taxpayers)

§ IRS Letters Rulings Reports
(CCH)

§ Private Letter Rulings
(RIA)

§ Daily Tax Reports (BNA)
§Tax Analysts & Advocates,
TAX NOTES

National
office of
IRS

Ö
(only
precedent
value is for
the taxpayer
addressed in
letter)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 5b

8

Research Sources for
Administrative Authority
Authoritative
Documents
Research Sources Authorship Binding Persuasive

Technical Advice
Memoranda [TAMs]
(addresses how IRS will
treat a completed
transaction for tax
purposes; issued to
District Office, hence
�memorandum�)

§ IRS Position Reporter
(CCH)

§ Tax Notes (Tax Analysts)
§ Internal Memoranda of the
IRS (RIA)

National
office of IRS

Ö
(only precedent
value is for the
taxpayer
addressed in
memo)

Determination Letters
(mainly deal with
pension plans and tax-
exempt organizations)

Not published, but available
by IRS for public inspection

District
Director of
IRS

Ö
(only precedent
value is for the
taxpayer
addressed in
letter)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 5c

9

Research Sources for
Judicial Authority

Authority Research Source Binding Persuasive

U.S. Supreme Court
(4 of 9 justices needed to
grant certiorari – often
granted only when there is
conflict among the appellate
courts or where the tax issue
is extremely important)

§ USTC (CCH)
§ AFTR (RIA)
§ S.Ct. Series

(West)

§ L.Ed.
(Lawyer�s Co-op)

§ U.S. Series
(U.S. Government)

Ö
(highest
judicial
body)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 6a

10

Research Sources for
Judicial Authority

Ö
(binding to

other tax
courts in

same circuit)

§ CCH services
§ RIA services
§ U.S. Government

Printing Office

U.S. Tax Court decisions
– regular
(deals with novel issues not
previously resolved by TC;
advance payment of tax not
allowed)

Ö
(binding to

lower courts
in same
circuit)

§ USTC (CCH)
§ AFTR (RIA)
§ Federal 3d (West)

U.S. Court of Appeal
decisions
(hears appeals from any of the
three lower courts; the Federal
Circuit Appellate Court hears all
appeals from the Court of Federal
Claims)

Persuasive BindingResearch SourceAuthority

Chapter 2, Exhibit 6b

11

Research Sources for
Judicial Authority

Chapter 2, Exhibit 6c

No precedent
authority

Not publishedSmall Cases Division of Tax
Court
(informal hearing for disputes of
$50,000 or less; appeals process
not available)

§ TCM (CCH)
§ T.C. Memo (RIA)

U.S. Tax Court
decisions—
Memorandum
(deals with factual issues
necessitating application of
established principles of tax law;
advance payment of tax not
allowed)

Persuasive BindingResearch SourceAuthority

Ö
(binding to
other tax

courts in same
circuit)

12

Research Sources for
Judicial Authority
Authority Research Source Binding Persuasive

U.S. District Court
(jury trial available for factual
issues but not for legal issues)

§ USTC (CCH)
§ AFTR (RIA)
§ F. Supp. Series

(West)

Ö
(binding to courts
in same district)

U.S. Court of Federal
Claims (hears any claims
against U.S. that is based on
the Constitution,
an Act of Congress, or a
Regulation of any
executive department)

§ USTC (CCH)
§ AFTR (RIA)
§ Federal Claims

Reporter (West)

Ö
(binding to same

court)

Chapter 2, Exhibit 6d

13

Commercial Publishers of
Comprehensive Services

Service Description

Standard Federal
Tax Reporter
(�Standard�), CCH

Comprehensive, self-contained reference service. 25 coordinated and
cross-referenced loose-leaf volumes that provide comprehensive
coverage of the income tax law. Compiles legislative, administrative,
and judicial aspects of the income tax law, arranged in Code section
order. Also contains weekly supplements concerning current legislative,
administrative, or judicial changes in tax law.

United States Tax
Reporter,
RIA

Comprehensive, self-contained reference service.

18

coordinated loose-
leaf volumes organized by Code sections and updated weekly. Similar
to CCH. RIA is known for its willingness to take a stand on
controversial issues not covered by legislation or tax law.

Federal Tax
Service,
CCH

Contains several volumes of compilation material organized by topic.
The Code, Regulations, and Committee Reports are contained in
separate volumes. The chapters are prepared by over 250 practitioners.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 7a

14

Commercial Publishers of
Comprehensive Services
Service Description

Federal Tax
Coordinator,
RIA

26-volume service organized by topic, rather than Code sections.
Popular features include editorial explanations, illustrations, planning
ideas, and warnings of potential tax traps.

Merten�s, Law of
Federal Income
Taxation,
Thomson West

Useful complement to traditional reference services. In-depth
discussions of general concepts of tax law. Often quoted in judicial
decisions. Sometimes difficult reading due to its legalistic style. Also,
updating is less frequent than most other services and not as accessible.

Tax Management
Portfolios,
BNA

Useful complement to traditional reference services. Each booklet
ranges in length from 50 to

20

0 pages and deals exclusively with a
special tax topic covering Code, Regulations, reference to primary
authorities, and extensive editorial discussion, including numerous tax
planning ideas. Problems of inconvenience may develop when there is
no one portfolio squarely on point and the research effort requires
reference to many portfolios. Updates are convenient though not
extensive.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 7b

15

Commercial Publishers of
Comprehensive Services
Service Description

CCH ONLINE An electronic research service. Incorporates practitioner-oriented
access methods to successfully located the desired tax information and
to retrieve documents of special interest. Available in many different
�libraries� addressing tax and nontax topics.

LEXIS/NEXIS,
Reed Elsevier, Inc.

An electronic research service. LEXIS accesses federal statutes,
regulations, IRS rulings, and judicial decisions. NEXIS contains the
full text of over 500 publications.

WESTLAW, West
Publishing Co.

An electronic research service. Provides much of the same data as
Lexis. Available online or CD-ROM.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 7c

16

Commercial Publishers of
Judicial Decisions

Service Description

CCH Citator, CCH Two-volume, loose-leaf reference service. Contains
alphabetical listing of Tax Court (formerly Board of Tax
Appeals, �BTA�) and federal court decisions since

19

13.
Indicates a paragraph reference where each case is digested in
the Compilation Volumes of the Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
Each listing outlines the judicial history of a selected case
beginning with the highest court to have ruled on that issue.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 8a

17

Commercial Publishers of
Judicial Decisions
Service Description

Federal Tax
Citator,
RIA

Seven-volume citator service organized in a manner consistent
with CCH Citator. Provides an alphabetical list of court cases
followed by a descriptive legislative history of each case.

U.S. Tax Cases
(USTC),
CCH

Series of volumes that cover Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals,
District Courts, and Court of Federal Claims cases since 1913.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 8b

18

Commercial Publishers of
Judicial Decisions
Service Description

American Federal
Tax Reports
(AFTR), RIA

Comparable to USTC above.

Tax Court
Memorandum
Decisions (TCM),
CCH

Publishes memorandum decisions of the Tax Court.

TC Memorandum
Decisions
(TC Memo),
RIA

Similar to TCM above.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 8c

19

Commercial Publishers of
Current Developments

DescriptionService

Monthly tax journal published by the AICPA.Tax Adviser

Monthly tax journal.Journal of Taxation

Weekly digests of new tax decisions.Tax Notes,
Tax Analysts

Weekly highlights of latest tax developmentsWeekly Alert,
RIA

Weekly highlights of latest tax developmentsStandard Federal Tax Reports, CCH

Chapter 2, Exhibit 9

20

IRS Communications
The IRS issues communications to individual taxpayers and IRS
personnel in three primary ways:

• Letter rulings
• Determination letters
• Technical advice memoranda

IRS Publications also address a variety of general and special topics
of concern to taxpayers.

Chapter 2, Exhibit 11

21

Appeals Administrative Process
If the taxpayer and the agent do not agree, the taxpayer has
several options:

• Request a conference in the IRS Appeals Office
• File a petition in the Tax Court
• Wait for the 90-day period to expire, pay the assessment, and start

a refund suit in the District Court or the Court of Federal Claims

Chapter 2, Exhibit 13

22

Taxpayer Bill of Rights
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is divided into four major
categories:

• Taxpayer rights and IRS obligations
• Levy and lien provisions
• Proceedings by taxpayers
• Authority of the Tax Court

Chapter 2, Exhibit 14

23