Skip to Main Content

Tax Research

Use this guide as an introduction to researching federal tax questions, for tax policy research and for finding IRS documents and other tax-related materials.

What is Statutes at Large

The Statutes at Large (abbreviated Stat.) contain the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President.  These laws as passed are assigned "Public Law" numbers.  The Statutes at Large contain the Public laws arranged chronologically.  So you will find Public Law 111-148 from 2010 in Statutes at Large volume 124 on page 119.  The citation would appear as 124 Stat. 119 (2010).

Finding Statutes at Large

Legislative history - incl proposed legislation

Each of the documents listed in the abbreviations in the box below will have a variety of sources. Here are the most likely databases/websites to find these documents.

Federal Legislative History - generally

Proposed legislation - Bills

Congressional materials / Abbreviations Explanation

Documents created as legislation is considered by Congress are known as the "legislative history" of that law.  They go by a variety of abbeviations, as listed below.
 
1. Bills -
H.R.*= House Bill
(*do not confuse with House Report-H.Rpt.)
S.=Senate Bill
example: H.R. 1 or S.1
 

2. Hearings

H.Hrg=House Hearing
S.Hrg=Senate Hearing
example: S.Hrg 108-383 or H.Hrg 108-383
 

3. Committee Reports

H.Rpt= House Report*
(*do not confuse with HR which is for House bill)
S.Rpt=Senate Report
example: H.Rpt 111-299 or S.Rpt 110-470
 

4. Debates

CR or Cong.Rec=Congressional Record
 
5.  bill goes through process in other chamber.
 
6. Conference Report

H.Rpt, H.Conf.Rpt=House Conference Report (may be same as for House Report)

S.Rpt=Senate Conference Report (same as for Senate Report)example: H.Rpt 111-89

 

7. Presidential Signing Statement

WCPD=Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

DCPD=Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents

 

8.  Public Law

P.L.=Public Law
 example: P.L. 111-148
 
See Bluebook Rule 13 for citing rules.