2. Sources of Tax Law for Tax Research What are Primary vs. Secondary authoritie

Question

2.         Sources of Tax Law for Tax Research

What are Primary vs. Secondary authorities? Can you give examples of each? Consider the following sources of tax law: statutes, case law, IRS announcements (i.e., Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, etc.). Which would seem the strongest to you, if any? What about court cases vs. statutes? To what extent does it matter which court the decision comes from, i.e., which courts are more authoritative than others for tax law? Please give me your thoughts

Explanation / Answer

The various sources of law may also be broken down into primary and secondary sources of law. Primary sources of law may be mandatory on a particular court, or they may be merely persuasive. Whether they are binding or persuasive will depend on various factors. Secondary authority is not itself law, and is never mandatory authority. A court may, however, look towards secondary sources of law for guidance as to how to resolve a particular issue.

Secondary authority is also useful as a case finding tool and for general information about a particular issue.

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