The Bulletin Index-Digest System & Highlights Summaries

The Bulletin Index-Digest System

For Tax Years 1953 - 1993

The last printing of the Bulletin Index-Digest System was divided into these four Services:

Service No. 1 - Income Tax, Publication 641 (12-93), Volumes I and II  
Service No. 2 - Estate and Gift Taxes, Publication 642 (12-93)  
Service No. 3 - Employment Taxes, Publication 643 (12-93)  
Service No. 4 - Excise Taxes, Publication 644 (12-93)

Each Service consisted of a basic volume and the latest cumulative supplement. The cumulative supplements were issued quarterly for the Income Tax Service, and semiannually for the other three Services. Periodically the material in the basic volume and the cumulative supplement would be combined in a new basic volume.

The major portion of the Bulletin Index-Digest System consisted of digests (or brief summaries) of:

    o Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures
    o Supreme Court decisions,
    o adverse Tax Court decisions on cases involving tax issues in which the IRS
       Commissioner had announced acquiescence or  nonacquiescence,
    o Executive Orders,
    o Treasury Department Orders,
    o Delegation Orders, and
    o other miscellaneous items published in the Bulletin.

These digests are available here in alphabetical order by tax topic. Each digest is preceded by descriptive "key words" that further identify the subject matter and is followed by a citation to the Code and Regulations section under which the item was published, and also a citation to the item and the Bulletin in which the full text of the item may be found. The arrangement of digests under tax topic headings makes it possible to use the "subject matter" (or Tax Topic) approach to find the Revenue Rulings or other items most specifically in point on a particular issue. (Note that not all Public Laws, Treasury Decisions, or Tax Conventions are digested, or summarized.)

IMPORTANT: The Index-Digest summaries and the Bulletin summaries are intended only as aids to the reader in identifying the subject matter covered. They may NOT be relied upon as authoritative interpretations, and may NOT be current. See the full text of any current IRS document.

How to Use The Bulletin Index-Digest System:

The Bulletin Index-Digest System is designed primarily to help you find the IRS position on any tax issue covered in documents published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. You will also find it useful for researching laws, regulations, and other matters published in the Bulletin. You can find the items published in the Bulletin that deal with your particular tax problem by using the basic Subject Matter Research Method.

Example of Using the Subject Matter (or Tax Topic) Research Method:

Suppose you want to know whether the Service has ruled on the allowance of a casualty loss deduction for damages caused by the bursting of a water heater.

First decide on your main subject: in this case, you might choose the term "Casualty". You would go to the Alphabetical List of Tax Topics. About midway down the page you would see the following:

You simply click on the letter of the alphabet that corresponds with the first letter of the word you wish to search. (For example, to search the word "casualty," you would click the "C" above.) Then you would see a list of tax topics that begin with that letter. The complete list will give you all the tax topics under which the summaries (or digests) are arranged. Checking through the list to see whether the term you have chosen is listed there and whether it is cross-referenced to another tax topic.

Scanning the "C" list, you will find "Casualty (See: Losses)." Then you click on the "L" in the alphabetical chart for "Losses." You will then see the tax topic "Losses." Next, find the summaries (or digests) under "Losses" and click on the file name to the left of "Losses."

On the "Losses" main page you will most likely see two files listed. The first is an Adobe PDF Acrobat file which is a listing of all digests from 1953 through 1993. The second file that may be listed is an HTML file that includes all summaries (extracted from the Internal Revenue Bulletin "Highlights" page) of documents issued from 1994 through the current time. You will be able to read the summaries of those documents in HTML, and for those files which were issued beginning in 1996, you will be able to view and print the entire document , which is in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Explanation of a Digest, or Summary Entry

This explains how to read a digest entry found under the "Losses" Tax Topic category. This reference pertains to the PDF file that covers the list of summaries (or digests) from 1953 through 1993.

In the "Losses" Digest PDF file, find Number 350.53 as follows:

For Tax Years 1953 - 1993:

The digest will help you decide whether the Revenue Ruling deals with the problem you are researching, which it does in this case. At the end of the digest summaries (for the years 1953 - 1993) you will find a citation to the appropriate sections of the regulations and law, and also a citation to the item and the Bulletin in which the full text of the item is published. If you had access to a tax library, you would then go to page 37 of Cumulative Bulletin 1970-1 to determine whether the facts in Rev. Rul. 70-91 are substantially the same as those in your case.

Researching Tax Conventions:
Under the alphabetical heading "Tax Conventions," you will find summaries (or digests) of Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures published under the provisions of a Tax Convention listed under the name of the appropriate country.

Researching Supreme Court Decisions:
All U.S. Supreme Court decisions on Federal tax matters are published in the Bulletin. You can find Supreme Court decisions by using the subject matter method.

Researching Tax Court Decisions:
Tax Court decisions are not published in the Bulletin, but announcements concerning the Service's acquiescence or nonacquiescence in adverse Tax Court decisions are published. Digests of adverse Tax Court decisions in which the Service has announced acquiescence or nonacquiescence and which concern substantive issues are included under the appropriate subject matter headings.

Each digest gives a summary of the facts and holding, the applicable Code section, the Service position of acquiescence or nonacquiescence, a citation to the Bulletin announcing the Service's position, and a citation to the Tax Court volume in which the decision is published. The abbreviations "Acq.", or "Nonacq." are used with a citation to the Tax Court volume and IRS's Cumulative Bulletin (The Cumulative Bulletin is a bound volume of 26 Bulletins, compiled during a 6 month period.).

Miscellaneous Bulletin Items:
Under the appropriate tax topics, you will find summaries (or digests) of miscellaneous items published in the Bulletin, such as Executive Orders, Treasury Department Orders, Delegation Orders, etc.

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