Federal Tax Law Research: Statutes & Legislative History

This link takes you to the table of contents for Title 26 of the U.S. Code. This source includes the 2017 changes to the Code. It does not require a subscription or password.

This link takes you to the U.S. Code database in HeinOnline. From there you can select the edition you want and browse to Title 26. HeinOnline provides pdf copies of every edition of the U.S. Code from 1925 to the current edition.

This link will take you to the Lexis Advance login screen. You can find Title 26 by following these steps: (1) login to Lexis Advance, (2) click the "Go To Lexis Advance" button, (3) type "United States Code Service" into the main search box, then (4) select the Table of Contents link that appears and click on the arrow next to Title 26. The U.S. Code Service is the annotated version of the U.S. Code maintained by LexisNexis.

This link takes you to the U.S. Code Annotated, from there you can select Title 26.

The link above will take you to the table of contents for the IRC (Title 26 of the U.S. Code).

This link takes the user to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) website. Every year JCT posts a list of tax provisions with current and future "sunset" or expiration dates.

Govinfo.gov provides free access to Congressional documents including:

Bills (1993-current),
Hearings (1995-current),
Reports (1995-current), and
Debates (1994-current).

The link above takes you to the Advanced Search screen. Congressional reports have been selected as the material to search. You can use the "Add" and "Remove" buttons to change the content you would like to search, then enter your search terms in the box on the lower right.

This Congressional committee does not write tax legislation. Therefore, its reports are not technically legislative history of bills and statutes. However, the expert reports of the Joint Committee are well regarded for their explanation of the purpose of tax legislation.

Histories of particular statutes can be located by selecting the number of the Congress that enacted the statute then scrolling the alphabetical list for the name of the act.

The Library collection includes a bibliography of Federal Legislative Histories written by Bernard Reams. The government documents collection also includes the legislative histories of several tax statutes. All of these can be found using the Library Catalog. To find sources in the government documents collection we suggest using the advanced search feature with the name of the statute in one field and the word "history" in another field.

Legislative history materials, such as committee reports on tax bills, are available in several of the major legal research databases. Here are some tips for find what you need:

CHECKPOINT
After locating the relevant section of the IRC, Checkpoint features tabs above the statutory text which give you easy access to legislative history materials. Look for the tab labeled "Com Rpts."

WESTLAW
after locating the relevant section of the IRC, click on the History tab near the top of the screen and select the Legislative History Materials category.

BLOOMBERG LAW
After locating the relevant section of the IRC, you will see a link to BNA Committee reports (if any) on the right side of the screen.