Three states, not one
A source can be named on this site, linked to its publisher, planned, or searchable. Those are different things. Searchable means the source’s text is in the Virtus library with its publisher, identity and location, so a search can return it and a citation can point into it.
The Sources page sorts every collection into one of three states. Searchable collections hold documents that a search can return and a citation can open at the location the source supports. Searchable sections hold current sections of the Code and regulations. Planned coverage is part of the product plan and is not in the library, so nothing you research depends on it.
Read the current list on Sources. This article explains what the words on that page promise, and where they stop.
Searchable collections
Whole documents, each kept with its original file.
- IRS written determinationsInternal Revenue Service
- IRS revenue proceduresInternal Revenue Service
Searchable sections
Current Title 26 text, cited by section.
- Internal Revenue CodeOffice of the Law Revision Counsel
- Treasury regulationsElectronic Code of Federal Regulations
Planned
In the product plan. Not in the library today.
- U.S. Tax CourtUnited States Tax Court
Current text, not every year
Searchable sections are current sections. The Internal Revenue Code and the Treasury regulations are searchable as they read now. If your question is about an earlier year, check the edition and effective date before you rely on the text.
The regulations come from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, a continuously updated compilation that is informational rather than an official legal edition. Virtus labels it that way. The official annual edition of the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register remain the legal text.
What can be missing
A searchable collection is not every document its publisher has ever released. IRS written determinations are limited to the documents published to the research library. Revenue procedures published in Internal Revenue Bulletin issues since late 2003 are searchable, some issues and earlier procedures are absent, and later guidance may modify or supersede a procedure you find.
The Sources page states what is outside the library altogether:
- Records available only by request, and older records not published electronically.
- Commercial commentary, treatises, editorial headnotes and newsletters.
- A full citator tracking every later document that follows or criticizes a source.
- State and international tax law, or broad federal-court coverage.
- Client files and private document uploads.
When the library has nothing
When no source in the library supports a question, Virtus does not guess. It shows No cited answer and says why. The example at right is a question about state sales tax, which is outside the library.
That response describes the library, not the law. It does not mean no authority exists. It means nothing Virtus can cite answers the question, so the next step is to try a document number, a Code section or a different phrase, or to look outside Virtus.
Research conversationIllustrated state
What is the sales tax rate in Ohio?
Virtus
No cited answer
No documents matched this question, so no cited answer is shown. Try a document number, a Code section, or a different phrase.
Before you rely on a result
- Open the original from the result and read the passage in its own setting.
- Check the date, edition or release against the period your question concerns.
- Read the authority label. A private letter ruling is nonprecedential; see what that means.
- Remember that a scanned page is shown as a transcription of the original, not as the official text.