These materials can help you get started. Remember that IRS documents are not as authoritative as regulations.
Understanding IRS Guidance: A Brief Primer is available on the IRS website.
Tina R. Green & Nikki L. Laing, IRS Alphabet Soup: Practical and Precedential Value of AODs, IRBs, TAMs and Other Guidance, 15 J. TAX PRAC. & PROC. 27 (2013). (Available on HeinOnline.)
There are several collections of IRS Documents online:
Administrative Decisions and Guidelines, Internal Revenue Service from Westlaw
IRS Documents on Bloomberg
On VitalLaw, go to Primary Sources within the Tax collection. IRS Administrative Rulings and Positions is in the dropdown menu.
The Internal Revenue Bulletin is published weekly, and a Cumulative Bulletin is published semi-annually.
Types of documents that may be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin ("IRB") include:
The Internal Review Bulletin is available on the IRS website; cumulative bulletins are available on Lexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline from 1919-2008, and 2008 to the present.)
The following are also important IRS publications. They are published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. All of the descriptions are on the IRS Website in Understanding IRS Guidance: A Brief Primer or Internal Revenue Manuals: Part 4, Examining Process.
Revenue Rulings - "A revenue ruling is an official interpretation by the IRS of the Internal Revenue Code, related statutes, tax treaties and regulations. It is the conclusion of the IRS on how the law is applied to a specific set of facts."
Revenue Procedures - "A revenue procedure is an official statement of a procedure that affects the rights or duties of taxpayers or other members of the public under the Internal Revenue Code, related statutes, tax treaties and regulations and that should be a matter of public knowledge."
Notices - "A notice is a public pronouncement that may contain guidance that involves substantive interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code or other provisions of the law."
Announcements - "Announcements are public pronouncements on matters of general interest, such as effective dates of temporary regulations, clarification of rulings and form instructions. They are issued when guidance of a substantive or procedural nature is needed quickly." "An announcement is a public pronouncement that has only immediate or short-term value."
Publications - "IRS Publications explain the law in plain language for taxpayers and their advisors. They typically highlight changes in the law, provide examples illustrating IRS positions, and include worksheets."
Technical Advice Memoranda - "A technical advice memorandum, or TAM, is guidance furnished by the Office of Chief Counsel upon the request of an IRS director or an area director, appeals, in response to technical or procedural questions that develop during a proceeding. A request for a TAM generally stems from an examination of a taxpayer's return, a consideration of a taxpayer's claim for a refund or credit, or any other matter involving a specific taxpayer under the jurisdiction of the territory manager or the area director, appeals."
General Counsel Memoranda - "General Counsel Memoranda (GCM) are legal memoranda from the Office of Chief Counsel prepared in connection with the review of certain proposed rulings (Rev. Ruls., PLRs, TCMs). They contain legal analyses of substantive issues and can be helpful in understanding the reasoning behind a particular ruling and the IRS’ response to similar issues in the future."
Actions on Decisions - "It is the policy of the IRS to announce at an early date whether it will follow the holdings of lower courts in certain cases. An Action on Decision (AOD) is the document making such an announcement...The recommendation in every AOD is summarized as acquiescence, acquiescence in result only, or nonacquiescence."
You can find IRS Publications on:
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