The Tax Research Process
The Tax Research Process
The overriding purpose of tax research is to find solutions to the tax problems of one’s clients or employer. The process is similar to that of traditional legal research. The researcher must find authority, evaluate the usefulness of that authority, and apply the results of the research to a specific situation.
One can identify two essential tax research skills: * The first is using certain mechanical techniques to identify and locate the tax authorities that relate to solving a problem.
* The second entails a combination of reasoning and creativity and is more difficult to learn. A researcher must begin with native intelligence and imagination and add training and experience properly to apply the information found. Creativity is necessary to explore the relevant relationships among the circumstances and problems at hand to find a satisfying (and defensible) solution. In many cases, no legal authority exists that is directly on point for the problem. If such a situation comes up, the researcher must combine seemingly unrelated facts, ideas (including those that he or she has derived from previous research work), and legal authority to arrive at a truly novel conclusion. This creative ability of the researcher often spells the difference between success and failure in the research process.
Outline of Tax Research Process
As the tax problems of the client become more significant, the related tax research can become time-consuming and, thus, expensive to the client. A moderate tax research problem often takes up to eight or ten hours of research time, and the bill for these services may approach or even exceed $2,000. Because of the costs that are involved, the tax researcher must work as efficiently as possible to obtain the solution to the client’s problem. The researcher needs a framework for the research process, so that he or she does not waste time and effort in arriving at a solution to the problem.
The tax research process
The overriding purpose of tax research is to find solutions to the tax problems of one’s clients or employer. The process is similar to that of traditional legal research. The researcher must find authority, evaluate the usefulness of that authority, and apply the results of the research to a specific situation.
One can identify two essential tax research skills: * The first is using certain mechanical techniques to identify and locate the tax authorities that relate to solving a problem.
* The second entails a combination of reasoning and creativity and is more difficult to learn. A researcher must begin with native intelligence and imagination and add training and experience properly to apply the information found. Creativity is necessary to explore the relevant relationships among the circumstances and problems at hand to find a satisfying (and defensible) solution. In many cases, no legal authority exists that is directly on point for the problem. If such a situation comes up, the researcher must combine seemingly unrelated facts, ideas (including those that he or she has derived from previous research work), and legal authority to arrive at a truly novel conclusion. This creative ability of the researcher often spells the difference between success and failure in the research process.
Outline of Tax Research Process
As the tax problems of the client become more significant, the related tax research can become time-consuming and, thus, expensive to the client. A moderate tax research problem often takes up to eight or ten hours of research time, and the bill for these services may approach or even exceed $2,000. Because of the costs that are involved, the tax researcher must work as efficiently as possible to obtain the solution to the client’s problem. The researcher needs a framework for the research process, so that he or she does not waste time and effort in arriving at a solution to the problem.
The tax research process