Logging in to CCH Tax Research NetWork

Transcription

CCH
Tax Research Network™
CCH Tax Research NetWork
Tax Research NetWork
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ 1
Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 2
Logging in to CCH Tax Research NetWork ..................................................................... 3
Navigation Tools .............................................................................................................. 4
My CCH - Tab Customization .......................................................................................... 5
Favorite Research Publications ................................................................................ 6
Tax Tracker News ..................................................................................................... 7
Organization of Libraries ............................................................................................... 10
Beginning Your Research.............................................................................................. 11
Browsing ....................................................................................................................... 12
Document Features and Functionality .................................................................... 17
Research Folders ........................................................................................................................ 18
Printing Options ........................................................................................................................... 19
E-mail a Document ...................................................................................................................... 21
Copy and Paste: .......................................................................................................................... 22
Find by Citation ............................................................................................................. 23
Keyword Search ............................................................................................................ 31
Search Options ....................................................................................................... 32
Table of Contents View ........................................................................................... 34
Display by Table of Contents – Hits Only..................................................................................... 35
Search Tools ........................................................................................................... 36
A search within a search ......................................................................................... 40
Favorite Search....................................................................................................... 43
Narrowing the focus of your State Taxes search ..................................................... 44
State SmartRelate ......................................................................................................... 47
Topical Index ................................................................................................................. 54
Tax Tools ....................................................................................................................... 56
Topic Navigator ....................................................................................................... 56
State Tax Smart Charts ........................................................................................... 58
Research History........................................................................................................... 62
Log Out ......................................................................................................................... 63
Appendix A – Expanded Explanation of Navigation Tools ............................................. 64
Appendix B – Internet Content Description ................................................................... 67
Appendix C – Best Practices......................................................................................... 81
Appendix D – Case Studies........................................................................................... 86
Appendix E – CCH@Hand ............................................................................................ 95
Appendix F – ProSystem fx........................................................................................... 96
Appendix G – Support Page.......................................................................................... 99
Table of Contents
Page 1
Objectives
This course provides an introduction to Tax Research NetWork. After completion of this
course you will know how to:
•
Log In to CCH Tax Research NetWork
•
Customize My CCH tab and create Daily Tax Trackers
•
Select publications and execute a keyword search
•
Find a document by its citation
•
Browse when you know the general topic or code section
•
Use the Topical Index
•
Use the Topic Navigator
•
Link to Tax Research NetWork from ProSystem fx
•
Find Training and Support
Objectives
Page 2
To log in to CCH Tax Research NetWork from your Web browser:
1. Point your Web browser to http://tax.cchgroup.com/network .
2. In the Login box, type your User ID and password.
3. Click Enter.
Best Practice: Use CCH@Hand icons and the CCH@Hand Browser toolbar to log in
automatically without having to enter your User ID or password. To download and
install CCH@Hand, go to: http://athand.cch.com
Best Practice: Sharing TRN IDs is not recommended because only one person can
be logged in on a single ID at a time, with last login having control. In addition, all
search preferences are ID specific. Contact your CCH Sales Representative
regarding additional IDs.
Best Practice: Sign up for the CCH@Hand web training to learn how you can take
advantage of the powerful research tools available within CCH@Hand.
Page 3
Navigation Tools
Support Functions
Navigation Bar
Basic Navigation
Record Keeping
Search Functions
Shortcut to Understanding the Navigation Bar
The CCH Navigation Bar is designed to help you navigate the CCH Tax Research
NetWork™ in order to find answers quickly and efficiently.
Best Practice: Use Clear Selections at any point during your research session to
reset the system and return to the main menu of the tab you are working on. This
allows you to start over with one click from anywhere at anytime.
Navigation Tools
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My CCH - Tab Customization
Favorite Research Publications – Allow you to set up your own customized
list of frequently used research publications.
Tax Trackers – Track daily customized News and Primary Source material.
Research Tools:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Quick Link – Enter a citation and quickly retrieve the document.
Research Folders – A quick way to access your research folders.
Run Recent Searches – Rerun one of your last 20 searches.
Favorite Searches – Set up searches that you use frequently. One click access
to rerun that favorite.
Tax Highlights and Tax Briefings - Allow you to view special reports and significant tax
news items for the current day.
Page 5
Favorite Research Publications
Save Favorite Publications on the My CCH tab for quick and easy access.
When you are in a library, click on the CCH logo
A blue logo indicates that the publication
next to the publication you want to make a favorite.
has been added to the My CCH tab.
Click here to change
the user name.
To remove all publications
To remove a favorite publication from My CCH,
from the My CCH tab,
click the blue CCH logo next to the item you want
click here.
to remove.
Best Practice. Click on the CCH Logo next to any publication. This enables you to
create your personalized library of publications on the My CCH tab under Favorite
Research Publications.
Page 6
Tax Tracker News
Your Personalized Tax News Delivered Daily to your desktop and your email
address.
Tax Tracker allows you to customize Daily Tax News. After you have created a Tracker,
the news can be delivered to your email each day.
If you have CCH@Hand installed, your daily news will automatically be delivered to your
desktop each morning.
When you click on the headline, your news will appear in a mini-browser window.
From your news story, you can click on hotlinks to extend research to related topics or
document types.
Instructions on creating Customized News Items:
1. Click “Set up Tax Tracker Searches or click on Preferences.
2. Choose the Tax Topic, Document Types and enter Specific keywords.
3. Click Add and enter the name of the Tax Tracker.
4. The new Daily Tax Tracker will be added to the My CCH Tab.
Best Practice – If you have CCH@Hand installed, your daily news will
automatically be delivered to your desktop each morning. When you click on
the headline, your news will appear in the CCH@Hand Desktop Console. From
your news story, you can click on hotlinks to extend your research.
Page 7
Example of a Federal Tax Tracker:
NOTE: There are several tax types to choose from when creating Tax Trackers.
To set up email or to check archives of Tax Trackers, choose Preferences.
You can also set search and display options in preferences.
Page 8
Tax Tracker News Tab
From the main menu you can click on the Tax Trackers News tab to display Trackers
News in a customized newspaper format shown below.
When reading your Tracker News, you can access any item presented in blue type by
clicking on the text.
Best Practice. Within your Tax Tracker News, create Research Folders to save those
news stories that are relevant to you, your practice area, and your clients; and
create a newsletter that reports only those stories of interest.
Best practice: Partners, managers and tax staff should check CCH Tax Tracker
News to stay current on daily changes and how they impact specific clients.
Best Practice: State Tax Day is a composite of the day’s stories regarding all tax
types for each state. As a result, when you are looking for the most up-to-the-minute
information regarding anything at all having to do with taxes, use State Tax Day.
Page 9
Organization of Libraries
When you first log in to CCH Tax Research NetWork, you will find that your subscription
in logically organized into tabs, allowing you to quickly find the appropriate research
information.
Within each tab you find shaded bars which logically organize information. For
example, the Current Features and Journals section of the Federal tab lists the most
recent information at the top of the screen.
Library
Tabs
Note: Create direct links to your favorite
research areas in your browser favorites.
Click on L (in blue circle) on the shaded bar,
click on the “Save to Browser Favorites”
button, and click OK.
As you move from top to bottom you will find all the information you need to begin your
research. The Topical Indexes are located at the bottom of the Library Tabs. The only
exception to this is the State Tax Reporters. The Topical Index for State Tax Reporters
are located in that State publication.
On the Federal tab, most of your research will begin in the CCH Explanations and
Analysis section. On the State tab, most of your research will begin with the State Tax
Reporters section.
Best Practice: In many instances, a bill starts off regarding one topic and is later
amended into a bill that has nothing to do with the original topic. Researching the
differences in one bill through its various incarnations can be done using the
Current Year’s Final and Pending Legislation feature under the State Tax tab in TRN.
Through this feature, a researcher can easily see the differences in a specific law
from the introduced stage to amended to engrossed to enacted.
Organization of Libraries
Page 10
Beginning Your Research
To begin your research:
•
Click on a tab (My CCH, Federal, State, International, etc.) to see all the
publications available.
•
To Keyword Search, click a publication’s checkbox, type in your search terms in
the box on the Navigation Bar and click Search.
•
To Find by Citation, click a publication’s checkbox, click on Find by Citation in
the Navigation Bar, type cite into template and click Search.
•
To Browse, click on a publication’s title to see the contents of that publication.
This method is just like using the table of contents in the front of a book.
•
To find a topic by the Index, scroll to bottom of tab and select the publication.
•
Use Topic Navigator, which will gather all CCH content topically rather than by
publication or product. (Federal)
The method you choose, whether you begin with a general topic, a citation, or
keywords, will depend largely on the information you have at the start of your research.
Research scenario:
Assume you want to find a CCH Explanation on how to depreciate property acquired in
a like-kind Exchange, such as luxury automobiles.
Beginning Your Research
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Browsing
Use Browsing when you know the general topic. The Main Menu Screen becomes an
expandable/collapsible “Table of Contents.”
•
Each publication title is a link. When your pointer turns into a hand, click once to
“open” the link.
•
When you click on the link, you open the publication to reveal a menu of subtopics for selection.
•
Do not check the box. Checkboxes are for searching and will be covered later.
• Click on the next publication topic to continue to drill down to a single document.
Click on the Library tab
Click on the title to open any library, and continue to open the sections
until you have the subject you need.
If you are unfamiliar with a topic and just need some background or general
information, you may want to browse or conduct a keyword search in the Standard
Federal Tax Reporter – Explanations, which is located on the Federal Tab under the
CCH Explanations and Analysis shaded bar.
Browsing
Page 12
Click the link to open the publication to a list of subtopics.
Expand the library to show the topics and code sections in order to browse, in this case,
the Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter.
Click on the link for the subtopic Items not deductible --Secs. 261-291
Browsing
Page 13
As you choose and open selections, the area expands and the subject narrows.
Selecting Items not deductible --Secs. 261-291 from the previous menu
displays this breakdown. Click on Luxury automobiles and other listed
property --Sec. 280F .
Browsing
Page 14
Choosing Luxury automobiles and other listed property --Sec. 280F from the
previous menu displays a list of all related documents for your topic. Documents are
listed in order of hierarchal authority
Notice the list is arranged by Authority:
1. Primary Source Material
•
IRC
•
Regs
2. Secondary Sources:
•
CCH Explanations: Analysis of the law
•
CCH Annotations: Analysis of Cases and Rulings
3. Current Developments: Click here to access most recent coverage
Browsing
Page 15
Click on CCH-EXP, Luxury Autos --Listed Property Limitations .
Click on CCH-EXP, Luxury Automobiles
Use Synopsis [.01s] for a brief overview of a Code Section and for links to deeper
content.
Click on CCH-EXP, 2007FED ¶15,108.033, Luxury Autos --Listed Property
Limitations: Luxury Automobiles: Vehicle trade-ins and involuntary conversions
Browsing
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Document Features and Functionality
Shows where you are & tracks how you got here…..also
used as Express BACK Buttons to return to a previous
sections.
SmartRelate – A button Bar that allows once click to
related Code, Regulations, Annotations, Current
Hotlinks to Citation preferences – Secondary &
Developments.
Primary material that addresses the issue.
Best Practice: Use Headings at the top of the document or menu to navigate to
previous menu levels instead of the Back button in your browser. It also indicates
what topic or area of law you are reviewing. When browsing this allows you to make
selections under one section and move back to a previous level and make additional
choices.
Document Options
Browsing
Page 17
Research Folders
As you research, you can set aside important documents you’ve found in a separate list called
Research folders. You can then print or save these documents at your convenience. Each user
can store up to 500 documents in each folder.
Click this link to add the document
to the folders
Things to remember about the Research Folders
•
Research Folders are saved on CCH Servers, not on your local computer or
network.
•
Research Folders are not deleted as long as your User ID is active.
•
They are a great tool to share your research with colleagues by Exporting Title
with URLs.
•
If you have a table or other data source that is revised regularly, add the
document to a Research Folder and you will always have the most current
version.
•
Documents are automatically updated when revised. If you make a major
decision from the document, make sure to print or export the document to your
hard drive or network so you have a copy at that point in time.
Best Practice: As discussed, documents added to Research Folders are
updated automatically when revised. For you auditing needs - once you have
completed your research on a particular issue you might want to export the
version of the documents as they existed the day you put them in the Research
Folders into a RTF file and save the file locally into your client/audit sub-folder by
selecting all or selected documents and then exporting documents to Word.
Browsing
Page 18
Printing Options
1. Click on Print
2. Select OK
The document appears without graphics in
the Print Text Only window. Click on OK to
print.
To see the number of pages in the document,
click on Cancel instead. Then go to File and
select Print Preview.
Minimize the Print Text Only window to keep it open in the background. Return to your
document and continue your research. Click on a code section referenced in the CCH
Explanation. Click on the window taskbar to open the CCH Explanation in the Text Only
box to view both the CCH Explanation and the state statute side by side.
Prior to printing a document, open the text only window and click on File- Print Preview
to see how many pages the document is.
Browsing
Page 19
To print a selection within the document:
1. Highlight the text to print
2. Click on
the printer
to the left
of the title
in the
document
toolbar
Browsing
Page 20
E-mail a Document
1. Click on the mail icon.
2. Enter the e-mail the address and
a message to the recipient.
3. Click the submit
button to send.
Best Practice: To save time, place your email address in preferences. Your email
will now automatically appear in the From field when you email from an open
document.
Browsing
Page 21
Copy and Paste:
To select a portion of the document to copy and paste into a document or email, click on
the Print link, then highlight your selection.
Go to edit and select copy. You can then paste the selection into your document.
Copy and paste the information including the copyright from the Print text only view.
Browsing
Page 22
Find by Citation
The fastest way to retrieve the full text of a document when you know its citation is Find
by Citation.
How might you know a citation?
•
It is referenced in another document
•
You know it from previous research
•
It is referenced in a CCH Newsletter
The document you are looking for is Code Section 280F:
1. Check the selection box for the
publication where the document is
2. Then point to the Find by
Citation Link and click.
located.
Find by Citation
Page 23
The Citation template provides a template for every document type available in the
selected database.
Find the IRC § template for your document and type in the citation numbers.
Enter the document citation
Click on the Search
button to the left of
the entry.
Find by Citation
Page 24
The cited document is displayed…
To do a State Citation Search:
The document we are looking for is CCH ¶ 10-215:
1. Check the selection box for the publication
where the document is located
2. Then point to the Find by
Citation link and click
Find by Citation
Page 25
The Citation template provides a fill-in-the-blank box for every document type available
in the selected database.
Find the template for your document type – “CCH ¶” – and type in the citation numbers.
Click on the Search
button to the left of
the entry.
Find by Citation
Page 26
The cited document is displayed…
Note:
The referenced code section
is not marked in blue or
underlined, although it is a
citation.
Step 1: Highlight the selection, then move to the
Find by Citation. The Quick Link will display the
Step 2: Click on the Quick Link to see
highlighted citation as a link.
the referenced selection.
Find by Citation
Page 27
Look for another citation using Revenue Ruling 94-24:
Enter the document citation and click on Search to the left of the entry
QUICK LINK FEATURE
In the Revenue Ruling, there is a reference to N.E. Soloman Case. Notice it is not a
hypertext link. To link to that case, simply follow the steps below.
1.
Highlight reference.
2.
Move mouse over Find by Citation.
Find by Citation
Click on the Quick Link that appears to see
the referenced document.
Page 28
Check Citator
The Check Citator tracks the history of cases and rulings through the legal process and
tracks whether a case or ruling is still current, whether there are any other cases or
rulings on the same point of law that should be considered, and whether the ruling in the
case is still good.
Access the Citator from within a case or ruling or from the main menu.
1. Access the Citator from within a case or ruling
After the Case is displayed, click to display the history of the case or ruling.
See Citator instructions on the next page.
Best Practice: Scan the “ANNOTATED AT’ area of the Citator Listing. Any
paragraph number below .10 is a CCH Explanation. This indicates the case or
ruling you’re viewing is cited in the current year analysis and may yield important
information in how this is being applied under current law.
Find by Citation
Page 29
2. Access Citator from Main Menu
Click the
Example of Citator Listing
Find by Citation
Page 30
Keyword Search
What are Keywords?
Keywords are the words used in the official language of tax. These are the words
editors and official government agencies use to describe and identify the various tax
issues and publications. When you know the appropriate keywords, you will find your
answers more quickly.
A good search expression includes words that are unique to your research question and
avoids common words that may appear throughout the publication but are unrelated to
your research question.
Words entered in a search expression that are not keywords are called “noise words”
and are not used in the search.
For Example:
Are diesel fuels used in school buses exempt from tax? – are, in and from are noise
words and are not considered when this search is executed.
Using and understanding the steps in the following pages will help make searches more
efficient.
Note: Write down your tax question and use it as guidance or a source for keywords to
use for your search.
Best Practice
Keyword Search
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Search Options
Start with the default search methodology. Pre-set Defaults are:
•
ALL Term Search - Finds all terms within the same document
•
200 Documents returned (Click Preferences to change to 9999)
•
Sort results by relevance
•
Tax Thesaurus turned on
•
Documents display in document list
Key Word Search
1. Check the box next to the publication you want to search. Choose Current
Features in addition to Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter and the U.S. Master
Tax Guide.
2. Enter your Search Expression – depreciation car like kind exchange
3. Display Search Results List
Thesaurus automatically finds
all synonyms and variations of
words.
You can quickly print your document.
Keyword Search
Page 32
Search Options
Open the first document. If you cannot see the first
keyword, click on First Search Term. The link goes
to the first key word in the document.
The first keyword of each paragraph has red markers on
each side. The right marker moves you down in the
document, one keyword at a time. The left moves you up in
All keywords are highlighted
the document, one keyword at a time.
in yellow.
Click on Next to go to the next document in your List to go back to your Search Results
List.
Keyword Search
Page 33
Table of Contents View
Display Search Results by Table of Contents View
With the Table of contents Search Results view, you can:
• Focus and organize your search results lists, allowing you to view hits within the
topically organized menu structure of Tax Research Network.
•
Navigate more quickly between research topic menus and search results.
•
View multi-publication and large scope searches more efficiently.
•
Make more informed, precise decisions on which documents to view on your search
results list.
•
Reduce the amount of scrolling within your search results list to find the required
document types.
See your hits within the context of the publication
In addition to viewing your search results on a regular document list, you can view
search results directly on the Tax Research NetWork library tabs, with “hits” listed next
to the selected libraries, publications, and topics.
•
•
•
•
Easy navigation – Switch back and forth between all search results views – Display
by Document and Display by Table of Contents -- quickly and easily by clicking on
the toggle at the top of all search results screens.
Orientation is clear – The Table of Contents search results view displays your
results on the Main Menu so you can see your search hits in the familiar
environment.
Get all the hits for one menu item in one click -- If you find a topic of interest
while reviewing your search results, with a single click you can get a list of only the
documents the search located within that topic.
Visual cues -- Search hits are easy to distinguish in the Table of Contents search
results view. Hits are always displayed in blue text, while items with no hits are in
gray text. The thesaurus terms are always at the top of your results.
Keyword Search
Page 34
Display by Table of Contents – Hits Only
This search results display appears on the Main Menu for easy orientation. Select
Display by Table of Contents – Hits Only to see the hits from only the publications you
selected to search.
Keyword Search
Page 35
Search Tools
Search Tools allow you to modify or enhance your next search. While Preferences set
you defaults, Search Tools are temporary changes and remain in place until you click
Clear Selections.
From the Navigation Bar, click on Search Tools, to open the menu choices that allow
you to make adjustments to the way your search is executed.
Click on Search Now after making your choices.
Change your search method.
See the synonyms
the thesaurus will
Turn other
also search for.
options on
and off.
Narrow by the parts of
documents that are
Add a date restrictor.
searched.
Narrow the types of documents
you want to search.
Keyword Search
Page 36
All Terms finds documents that include all
your keywords
Search options explained
Any Term finds documents that find one or
more of your keywords
Near finds documents in which your search
terms appear within 20 words of each other
Exact Phrase finds documents in which
your search terms appear in exactly the
order you type them
Boolean uses connectors (and, or, not, etc.)
You can…..
Change the number of documents returned
Turn “Sort results by relevance” on; if turned off
your search results will sort by ascending
citation order
Include or not the text that appears after each
document on the list
View Synonyms of your search term
Keyword Search
Page 37
One way to customize your search is to limit the document types selected for the
search.
You can add a Date Restriction to limit your search to the period of time designated for
case and ruling type searches.
To use the Date Restrictions, click Search by date, choose the date you want using the
drop down menus. Enter the day and the month. Select whether you want to search
Before, On, After or Between the dates entered.
Click on the down arrow to limit your search to a certain part of a document: Case
Name, IRC reference, date and etc. The limitations will change, depending on which
library you select.
This selection changes to reflect the types of documents available in the library or
libraries selected.
To limit the types of documents included in a
search, click on the white box to place a
checkmark for selected documents.
Best Practice: Click on “Regulations” or “Current Developments” to get a
more targeted list of document types.
Keyword Search
Page 38
Other Methods of Searching:
Any Term Method – Only one term needs to be in a document.
Depreciation car like kind exchange
Near Method – Searches each word separately, places w/20 (within 20 words) between
each word.
Depreciation car like kind exchange
Exact Phrase Method – Searches for exactly the phrase you enter.
Like kind exchange
Boolean Connectors Method – This method allows you to be very specific about the
documents you retrieve.
Connector
and
or
Not
Search Expression/Results
Retrieves documents that contain the terms or phrases
Depreciation and like kind exchange
Retrieves documents that contain either (or both)
of the terms
Depreciation or like kind exchange
Retrieves documents that contains the first term but not the second
term.
Depreciation not like kind exchange.
w/n
Retrieves documents that contain the first term
within n words of the second term (replace ‘n’ with number)
Depreciation w/10 like kind exchange
w/sen
Retrieves documents that contain the first term within 20 words of the
second term or phrase.
Depreciation w/sen like kind exchange
w/par
Retrieves documents that contain the first term
within 80 words of the second term
Depreciation w/par like kind exchange
Keyword Search
Page 39
A search within a search
Another effective way to find your answers is to create a range of data, and then refine
the results list by searching your results.
Keyword Search
Page 40
To search within a search, start with the results of a successful search
Step 1
Select the library or libraries of your choice, enter your search expression, and be sure
your search methodology is set the way you want it for the search.
Check
The Search of the Search Results List begins on the following page. (Note these search
selections)
The Standard Federal Tax
Reporter has been selected
Keyword Search
Page 41
Narrowing your Search Results:
The first search list is displayed.
– Enter a new key word: macrs
– Click search for a more refined list.
Keyword Search
Page 42
Favorite Search
Saving time for frequent searches of the same topic
•
From Main menu, select publications
•
Click either the dialog box or the menu choice for Add to Favorite Search
•
Name your search
•
Your search will be saved in the Favorite Search list
Note: Favorite searches are saved and executed using the same targeting information
you chose in the original search. You can access a favorite search from the My CCH
tab.
Keyword Search
Page 43
Narrowing the focus of your State Taxes search
Assume you want to find whether S Corporations are subject to corporate income tax in
Illinois.
Starting with the default search methodology – All Terms
Starting with the preset defaults (ALL Terms, 200 Documents returned, Sort results by
relevance, Display words around hits in results list, automatically apply thesaurus), select
the Illinois State Tax Reporter.
This search methodology produces the results shown below: Terms searched for: income tax, qualified
subchapter s corporation, replacement income tax, s corp, s corporation, s-corp, s-corporation, scorp,
scorporation, small business corporation, subchapter s corporation, tax measured by net income.
Documents are displayed in ranked order, best matches first. The top 200 of 556 total documents matching your
query have been returned. The default method of searching is ALL, which finds only documents that contain all
four of the search terms.
State tax reporting products are arranged by tax topic (compared to code-based as
in FED). It often speeds the research process if initial word searches are broad
(fewer and simpler terms), and limited to explanations.
Keyword Search
Page 44
Steps: On the State tab, check the boxes next to Alabama, Florida, and Illinois.
Click the Search Tools button.
Under Limit Search by Tax Type, select “Income Taxes, Corporate”. In the Search
expression box, type s corporation income tax. Select document and tax types to search.
In Search Tools click on the option Narrow
Search by Tax Types. Once the tax types
appear, select the tax types to search. Click
OK.
Keyword Search
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Display by Table of Contents – Hits Only
This new search results display appears on the Main Menu for easy orientation. Select
Display by Table of Contents – Hits Only to see the hits from only the publications you
selected to search.
Select search results
display options here.
Only the library tabs with hits are shown in this view
The number of hits is
displayed next to each
topic in brackets.
Click
Collapse All
to collapse all
the menu
Click on these
icons -
-- to
see a list of only
the documents
the search
located within
that topic.
Keyword Search
Page 46
State SmartRelate
SmartRelate is a unique functionality that works within the CCH Tax Research NetWork.
This innovative functionality supports an efficient process for complete research within
individual State Tax Reporters and among various State Tax Reporters. It ties together
related documents and related topics.
From your starting point, jump to all related links in the same state, or move from your
starting point in one state to the same topic in another state. The SmartRelate
functionality:
•
Links to related documents within the state you are searching, providing easy access
to related explanations, statutes, regulations, cases and rulings from every
document.
•
Links documents in a topic area to documents in every state within the subscription
that covers the topic.
•
Allows faster research because navigation from document to document is
continuous. You can easily move forward or return to previous documents.
•
Related information flows in all directions, so there are no dead ends.
SmartRelate
T i
State SmartRelate
Page 47
State Research scenario –
Select all states and then select search tools to limit your search to CCH Explanations
for information on direct payment permit.
State SmartRelate
Page 48
Select the first document from your search results list.
CCH SmartRelate provides continuous, easy access to related explanations, statutes,
regulations, cases and rulings within a state. (In this case, there are no related cases
and rulings in California.)
State SmartRelate
Page 49
Select Regulations to find the Regs related to this Direct Payment Permits explanation.
Click on the related document link.
SmartRelate immediately displays a menu that includes all the California regulations
related to this topic. Simply select the regulation you are interested in…..
….and continue your research
State SmartRelate
Page 50
SmartRelate links to more than just identically numbered documents. You will be
presented with all documents related by state codes and topics.
You can research across states from any document
reading.
you are
Example: From this explanation, click on RelatedTopics-State.
State SmartRelate
Page 51
It then provides a complete list of states with related materials. Select a state
to access your document, and continue your research.
State SmartRelate
Page 52
Keyword Search – Review
After selecting the library or libraries to search:
1. Enter your search expression (keyword)
2. Set your search preferences
3. Select the search methodology you want to use
Then click on the Search Button to execute your search.
There are many ways a search can be executed. Make sure your search methodology
reflects your intended choices to produce better results.
Remember: If your Search Preferences reflect the search methods you want to use,
you can simply select the library or libraries, then click on the Search Button to execute
your search.
The default search method is All Terms.
The Search Options button allows you to change your search methods and customize
your search on a search-by-search basis.
The defaults (unless changed in Preferences) are:
•
Tax Thesaurus is automatically applied, retrieves synonyms
•
Your result list is sorted by relevance, best matches first
•
Your list is limited to the top 200 documents
•
Keywords are highlighted in yellow
•
Your search automatically searches singular and plurals
State SmartRelate
Page 53
Topical Index
•
Indexes are at the bottom of the publication list of most libraries.
•
Use the Indexes just like you would in a book.
•
Browse through the Topical Indexes section to find the document you want.
Find material on Luxury Automobiles acquired through a Like Kind Exchange
1. Click on the Reporter Title to Browse
or to open the Topical Index.
2. To find information on
Like Kind Exchange, click
L to open the index.
3. Browse the list until you find the subject you are looking for – Like Kind Exchanges.
Best Practice: Choose “Select All” on blue bar and keyword search the Topical
Index. This will find all references to your topic and utilize the CCH Thesaurus to
find industry synonyms.
Topical Index
Page 54
After clicking on the Like Kind Exchanges selection, a traditional Topical Index is
displayed with direct links to related issues.
4. Find the topic – Luxury
automobiles – then click
the link to access the
document.
Then click the appropriate SmartRelate buttons to research further in primary source
material.
Page 55
Tax Tools
Topic Navigator
Topic Navigator contains information from a wide variety of CCH resources, including
books, reporters, treatises and journals-all gathered specifically for your tax law needs.
A browse pane with the topic map is displayed on the left side of your screen. The topic
map lists all the topics available for viewing. A results window displayed on the right
side of your screen contains links to documents on Tax Research NetWork.
Tax Tools
Page 56
Click any of the links to go directly to the full text of the document in Tax Research
NetWork.
Keyword searching can also be done in the Topic Navigator. Enter a term or phrase in
the search field and click Search Topics. A list of topics will appear in a window under
the search box. The results include the locations where your search terms are found
within the Topic Navigator including the path to the topic.
Tax Tools
Page 57
State Tax Smart Charts
Your subscription to state tax libraries may include Smart Charts, the most
sophisticated, user-friendly tools in the tax research industry. CCH state tax Smart
Charts blend access to answers and authority with the ability to create customizable
charts and allow researchers to move easily between research content and analysis,
news, and primary source documents. Smart Charts help you find answers quickly and
drill down to in-depth state explanations, laws and regulations — without key word
searches.
With CCH Smart Charts, you can quickly and easily chart state tax issues in one
jurisdiction, or compare tax treatments in multiple tax jurisdictions. With a few clicks, you
can:
•
Display chart information in a matrix view for at-a-glance comparisons
•
Easily export your charts into Microsoft® Word or Excel for customization
•
Retain "live" research links in the download to underlying law, regulation and
explanation source documents.
CCH® Smart Charts™ are seamlessly integrated into three premier Tax Research
NetWork libraries: State Business Income Tax Research & Compliance Manager™,
Sales Tax Research & Compliance Manager™, and Property Tax Research &
Compliance Manager™. Each individual state tax reporter also includes Smart Charts
on a variety of topics for the state, covering legislative developments, corporate and
pass-through income tax, personal income tax, sales and use taxes, property and other
taxes, as well as unclaimed property. The functionality for all these Smart Charts works
in the same way.
Click on any of the
Smart Chart titles
to launch Smart
Charts.
Tax Tools
Page 58
CCH® Smart Charts™- Multistate Business Income Tax Example
The Multistate Income Tax Smart Charts provide state information on a variety of
corporate and pass-through income tax topics for all 46 states that impose an income or
franchise tax, plus the District of Columbia. To create a customized, exportable chart
on combined reporting requirements, follow the steps below:
Select your topic(s) of interest
and click on Next. And then
select your jurisdictions.
Recent changes will be highlighted.
Live links to state laws and CCH
explanations, retained when exported
to Word or Excel.
Export your chart to Excel
or Word files to share with
others.
Open the latest
version of any Smart
Save any Smart Chart
Chart previously
under your CCH user id
saved under your
for future access.
Convert your chart to a
printable version.
CCH user id.
Tax Tools
Page 59
Matrix View
Best Practice: Quickly compare and contrast how your selected states treat the tax
topics you’re researching within your SmartCharts by using the Matrix feature in
the Display As field. Your topics will be displayed in the left column, and your states
will be displayed across the top.
Best Practice: After exporting your document to Excel, use the Save Chart feature
to rerun your chart at any point in the future without having to reset your choices.
Using “Open My Charts” at any point to review the last time your chart was run,
view your selections and quickly review highlighted areas (indicated in yellow as
discussed above). Use the yellow highlighted features to quickly identify what
sections of your saved chart needs to be updated.
Best Practice: When saving a Smart Chart for future reference the links remain live.
Thus, if the researcher wants to archive authority or explanations cited in a chart as
in effect at the time of the research session, that should be done separately, by
printing or saving the text, since the live link in the saved material will retrieve the
latest version of the linked material when used at a future time.
Best Practice: Many Smart Charts frequently contain short specific comments.
Words and phrases used in these comments can be helpful in doing a word search
in the state and topic of interest. These terms might also help to quickly scan linked
citations for key information.
Best Practice: Send your SmartChart results to your staff and colleagues for review
and follow-up by exporting your chart to Excel through the Export link located
within the Navigation Bar at the top of your chart. Then prepare an e-mail and attach
the Excel version of the chart complete with the hotlinks to the topic citations.
Tax Tools
Page 60
CCH® Smart Charts™- Individual State Tax Reporter Example
Single jurisdiction State Tax Reporter Smart Charts provide information on a variety of
topics including corporate and pass-through income tax, personal income tax, sales and
use taxes, property and other taxes, as well as unclaimed property. Single jurisdiction
charts work similarly to multi-state Smart Charts. To create a customized, exportable
chart for a single state, follow the steps
Click on the title of State Tax Reporter
below.
and then click the State’s Smart
Charts and Tools on the submenu.
Click to Launch the State’s
Smart Charts or Legislative
Developments.
Narrow your tax type with the “+”
sign and select as many topics as
needed or search through the list
of topics. Click on the Next button
to create the chart.
Tax Tools
Page 61
Research History
An audit trail of your Research Activity
Research History allows you to track time spent on a research project, return to a
previous document, or to continue from the point where you left off.
Research History can be saved for one day or for a maximum of 45 days. Choose
Preferences, then Set Display Options to set the number of days.
Best Practice: If your research is interrupted, you can return to your stopping
place by clicking on Research History.
Best Practice: Track your research for a specific client or issue by adding a
comment for each session. If you research several different issues, go to
Research History and put in a new comment for each issue.
Research History
Page 62
Log Out
Log Out when you finish your research session – don’t just close your browser.
When you finish your Research Session, use the Log Out Button to free up a CCH Tax
Research NetWork resource for your colleagues.
Log Out
Page 63
Appendix A – Expanded Explanation of Navigation Tools
Command
Description
The Add to Favorite Search Command, found at the top of any list of
documents retrieved by search, is used to add the search
expression with its target (which retrieved the currently displayed
list) to the Favorite Searches List. Then, it can be rerun in future
CCH Link Express Icons will appear at the tops of Tabs and in the
blue bars on Tabs if this function has been turned on by the user at
the Set Display Options tab under Preferences. Click on this icon to
create a URL that will link directly to a blue bar.
The Check Citator Button displays a template at which a known case
number, case name or ruling number can be entered. The Citator
Listing of that known document is then retrieved. The Citator Listing
reviews the history and the authority of the case or ruling.
Click on the Clear Search Terms Icon, found immediately to the left
of the Search Expression Box, to erase all user-typed terms in the
Search Expression Box.
Click on the Clear Selections Button to return to a “clean” Tabs
Window—that is, to the Tabs Window containing no selections.
Furthermore, clicking on this button will restore the default settings
(those found under Preferences) to the Search Tools Template.
The Document List Next Command is found at the top of any
document When it is lit (active), click on it to move from the
displayed document to the one that follows it on the current list of
d
t
The Document
List Previous Command is found at the top of any
document. When it is lit (active), click on it to move from the
displayed document to the one that precedes it on the current list of
documents.
The Export to File Command is found at the top of any list. It is used
to save user-selected documents on a list as a Rich Text Format
(.RTF) file in a word processor.
The Favorite Searches Command, found on the Search Tools
Template, is used to view (and, subsequently, either to resubmit or to
delete) search expressions (and their targets) that have been saved
previously by the user.
The Find by Citation Button displays a template where
the number of the desired document is entered and the text of the
desired document retrieved.
Click on the First Term Command, at the top of a document retrieved
by SEARCH, to display the first chunk of text that contains a
highlighted keyword of the search expression.
Page 64
Command
Description
The Help Button provides contextually dependent aid anywhere
in the CCH Internet Tax Research Network.
Click on the Keep List Button to access a Keep List, a usercreated list of research-relevant documents, from any of the
user-created research folders.
The Research Folder Add Command is found at the top of any
document. It is used to add the currently displayed document to
a Research Folder. That “kept” document can be printed later
and retained indefinitely for future review.
The Research Folder, Last Folder Command is found at the top
of any document. When it is lit (active), it can be clicked on to
return to the last Folder List that was displayed during the
current research session.
Click on the Log Out Button to end the research session.
Click on the Main Menu Button to return either to the last
Subject Menu or to the Tabs Window, whichever was more
recently displayed. All selections will still be in effect.
The Nearby Documents Next Command is found at the top of
any document. When it is lit (active), click on it to get the next,
contiguous document (immediately following the one currently
displayed on screen) in the reporter (or publication) in which it is
found.
The Nearby Documents Previous Command is found at the top
of any document. When it is lit (active), click on it to get the
previous, contiguous document (immediately preceding the one
currently displayed on screen) in the reporter (or publication) in
which it is found.
Click on the Preferences Button to modify the Display or Search
options.
The Print Text Only Command is found at the top of any list. It is
used to get “clean” hard copies of user-selected documents—
that is, it is used to print documents without graphics. Such
documents can be printed in full-text mode, by their titles only,
or by their titles with their URLs.
To get a cross-referenced document that is not a hypertext link,
select the cross-reference, move the pointer to the Find by
Citation Button, and click on Quick Link (which pops up,
containing the selection).
Page 65
Command
Description
Click on the Research History Button to display the user’s
path, or audit trail, a record of the process of the user’s
research session that identifies actions taken and places
visited by the user in the course of the user’s research
session.
The Save Link Favorite Command, found at the top of every
document, is used to create a URL in the user's list of Browser
Favorites that will, then, enable the user to link directly to the
document at which this hypertext link command was initially
clicked
The Save Link Link Express Command appears at the top of
any document. Clicking on it creates a URL that will link
directly to the document it designates.
Both the Search Expression Box, where a search expression
is typed, and the Search Button, which is clicked on to send it
to CCH for processing, are found at the top of the Tabs
window, any menu, any list, and any document.
The Search Results List Command appears at the top of any
document. When it is lit (active), clicking on it will redisplay the
last list of documents retrieved by SEARCH.
The Search Tools Button displays the Search Tools Template,
at which a user can select a Search Method, organize search
results by relevance, limit the number of documents retrieved,
target document types, restrict a search by date, confine a
search to a segment, etc.
The Store Document Export Command is found at the top of
any document. It is used to save the currently displayed
document as a Rich Text Format (.RTF) file in a word
processor.
The Store Document Print Command is found at the top of any
document. It is used to get a “clean” hard copy of a document—
that is, it is used to print the currently displayed document
without graphics.
The Store Document Mail command is found at the top of a
document. It is used to email a copy of a document.
Page 66
Appendix B – Internet Content Description
Federal Tab – CCH Internet Contents
(subject to CCH Library subscriptions)
CURRENT FEATURES AND JOURNALS
Federal Tax Day
Daily updates of developing federal income taxes, estate and gift taxes, excise tax issues, trends and legislation. Tax
Day provides direct links to the full text of federal tax source documents.
CCH Federal Tax Weekly – Current Issue
All the prior week's significant federal tax developments are digested for easy review, incorporating paragraph
references to the full text development in the electronic service. Includes commentary and analysis and other
features that summarize and comment on new federal tax developments.
CCH Federal Tax Weekly – Archive
TAXES – The Tax Magazine
Monthly professional tax journal, written by top tax experts, provides thorough, accurate, and insightful analysis of
current tax issues, trends, and legislative developments. Covers hot topics in legal, accounting, and economic
aspects of federal and state tax.
Tax Shelter Alert
Covers all aspects of what is happening with tax shelters and innovative tax planning structures, transactions, and
strategies. Includes the latest news from the IRS, advise of who is winning and losing in battles with the IRS, expert
opinions, real world answers, tips and tactics, and Sarbanes Oxley and how this monumental legislation affects you.
Tax Treaties Report Letters
Newsletters regarding the most recent information on Tax Treaties which include hotlinks to Primary Source Materials.
Journal of Retirement Planning
A professional journal dedicated entirely to the complex issues surrounding retirement planning.
Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure
This Journal is devoted entirely to the complex area of tax practice and procedure. Offers practical, timely analysis of
current issues and trends in the representation of taxpayers before the IRS, from initial contact through litigation.
Page 67
Journal of Taxation of Corporate Transactions
Covers critical developments in the corporate tax area from the perspective of the transactional practitioner. The
Journal focuses on the relevance of these developments to practical strategies and planning opportunities for
professionals and in-house tax practitioners.
Journal of Taxation of Financial Products
The Journal is devoted exclusively to the analysis of the tax ramifications of financial products. It includes complete
tax coverage, along with cutting-edge strategies and industry-specific insights into regulatory developments, state and
local tax, and international tax issues.
Journal of Practical Estate Planning
Merges the technical and legal aspects of practical estate planning with discussions of the philosophical, emotional
and psychological factors that are crucial to the planning process. The Journal discusses valuable estate planning
strategies along with strategies to incorporate client-centered and value-based planning in an existing practice,
mixing philanthropic estate planning strategies with traditional approaches. Every issue offers practical advice from
experienced and renowned practitioners who offer guidance on how to meet your client's estate planning objectives
including tax efficiency, legacy planning, practice management and other crucial issues.
Tax Week
Weekly newsletter that highlights trends and reports federal tax news.
ADVANCE RELEASE Documents
Full text of a wide variety of late-breaking documents, such as cases and revenue rulings. Provides the latest
interpretations of federal and state tax laws.
Federal Excise Tax Report Letter
Highlights current developments relating to excise tax.
Fed Estate/Gift Tax Report Letter
Highlights current developments relating to federal estate, gift and generation-skipping tax laws.
TAX LEGISLATION
CCH Legislation Newswire
As bills move through Congress, highlights of bills that have passed the House, the Senate, or both chambers of
Congress, are monitored and posted along with the date associated with the latest action.
Page 68
Bills Worth Watching
Helps practitioners stay on top of the federal tax legislation that matters, without getting bogged down in those that
don’t. This is a annotated chart and it presents the status of key bills, a brief description of the major provisions and
links to the legislative language and committee report text.
CCH Tax Briefings
When tax legislation passes, CCH Tax & Accounting immediately prepares a summary of the law and gauges it’s
impact on taxpayers.
Tax Relief and Reconciliation Acts of 2006: Law ^& Explanation
Law Explanation Analysis Book (1989-2006)
CCH Tax & Accounting prepares a Law, Explanation and Analysis (LEA) book for every piece of significant tax
legislation. This publication contains detailed CCH Tax & Accounting explanations of the new law; reflects all Code
and non-Code amendments and reproduces the controlling committee reports.
Tax Bills and Reports: 110th Congress (2007-2008)
All tax bills introduced in the current session of Congress. Makes it easy for Practitioners to consult recent legislation
more frequently than older legislation. It contains all the Congressional committee reports issued during the current
session.
Major Tax Acts and Reports
(1986-2006)
To research the “how’s” and “why’s” of a particular tax code change. This publication includes the actual text of all the
major tax acts, as well as accompanying committee report text for all tax acts since the 1986 Tax Reform Act. This
date provides the “Congressional intent” of a provision in its various states before enactment.
JCT Blue Books
The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) will publish an explanation (called the "Blue Book") for sessions of Congress
that pass significant legislation. Sometimes the Blue Books provide an explanation of an individual bill--typically for a
very major bill, or as a summary of all tax legislation passed in a Congressional session. This is done because the
Congressional committee reports issued as the bill progresses through Congress may differ significantly from the final
bill as enacted or the final provisions may "cobble together" pieces from several versions. The JCT prepares its
explanation of the final tax legislation so that practitioners can have a single document that explains the provisions
and what the Joint Committee intended in drafting the provisions. [Note: The CCH editorial staff pulls together the
"controlling committee reports" so that the Committee Reports reproduced in the Law, Explanation and Analysis
books and in the Standard Federal Tax Reporter contain the summary of the provisions that were enacted.] The JCT
Blue Books are a critical aid to research and CCH has them back to 1976, readily available under the JCT Blue
Books heading.
Page 69
CRS Reports and Other Studies (2003-2007)
Congressional Research Service documents that provide valuable background and insights into the tax law are
collected in this publication. Again, the most recent documents are housed in a separate publication to make them
easier to access.
Historical Legislative Documents (2003-2006)
Includes Bills worth watching for 2003-2004 and also includes Tax Bills and reports for the 108th Congress 2003-2004
Historical Legislative Documents (1954-2002)
CCH has all the documents that a serious tax researcher needs. This publication contains comprehensive legislative
documents (Committee Reports for enacted and pending legislation, tax bill introductions, Joint Committee on
Taxation documents (other than Blue Books); proposed legislation, bill floor debate, public laws, and miscellaneous
legislative documents back to 1954.
CCH EXPLANATIONS AND ANALYSIS
CCH Tax Research Consultant
Written by more than 250 leading tax practitioners, the CCH Tax Research Consultant is arranged by topic and offers
a practical, real-world focus on income, estate and gift tax laws, and important issues faced every day. Practical
examples, sample calculations, comments, planning notes and interactive research aids are provided by an
outstanding group of practitioner-authors to show how critical tax principles apply. Includes links to primary source
materials.
Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter (also see listing of this reporter with Explanations Only)
Arranged by code section, the reporter is the cornerstone of federal income tax research since 1913 and provides the
most comprehensive and current federal income tax authority in the industry. CCH Explanations cut through
technicalities to provide a clear, complete picture of the law. Annotations of cases and IRS rulings provide further
insight.
Fed Estate/Gift Tax Reporter
This reliable reference guide contains the full-text of the Internal Revenue Code and IRS regulations on federal
estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes, allowing informed, accurate decisions.
Fed Excise Tax Reporter
This convenient desktop reference offers complete, timely coverage of federal excise taxes, with monthly reports of
the latest developments and tax law changes. Presented in Code Section order with related committee reports,
followed by final, temporary, and proposed regulations, as well as CCH Explanations.
Page 70
Tax Treaties Reporter
This authoritative reporter reproduces the full text of U.S. bilateral income, estate and gift tax treaties,
exchange of information, totalization (social security), shipping/aircraft tax treaties, protocols, and other
related documents on taxation agreements. Arranged alphabetically by country.
2007 U.S. Master Tax Guide
Quick answer handbook in electronic format, provides baseline answers for all income, estate and gift tax questions.
Includes hot links to the Standard Federal Tax Reporter for further research, full-text and primary documents, if
needed.
CCH Federal Tax Guide
Concise source explains federal income, estate and gift, payroll, and selected excise taxes. This guide clearly
defines the rules relating to tax issues and provides tax saving tips and practical examples. References to the Code,
regulations, court decisions and IRS rulings.
Tax Angles—Special Taxpayers
Pulls together the complex and scattered provisions affecting taxpayers in a number of classifications. Provides
numerous examples, planning notes, compliance tips and cautions to help illustrate key concepts, and each tax topic
is thoroughly cited to the appropriate underlying authority.
Practice Before IRS & Courts
Offers coverage of rules regulating representation of clients before the IRS and the courts.
CCH’s Tax Planning Guide
Provides planning guidance in income, estate and gift tax matters.
Tax Practice Guides
Comprehensive guidance for handling controversies with the IRS.
State Tax Rates/Summaries
Includes income and deductions, federal tie-in, allocation and apportionment, rates and credits, returns and payment,
all state tax information charts, multistate tax agreements
Payroll Tax Rates/Summaries
Includes FICA taxation and reporting, FUTA, withholding tables
Employee Benefits Analysis
Includes age and sex discrimination, executive compensation stocks, cost containment-wellness programs, health
delivery systems, child care, education, legal services
Page 71
FEDERAL TAX TREATIES
Federal Income Taxation of Inventories by Leslie J. Schneider
The federal income taxation of inventories has long been a complex area involving the interaction of the separate
disciplines of law, taxes, financial accounting and managerial accounting. This book is intended to fill the void in this
area and to provide a practical research tool.
Federal Income Taxation of Corporations Filing Consolidated Returns
Analysis of consolidated return issues
PRIMARY SOURCES
Internal Revenue Code
Full text of the current IRC, including CCH Code-amendment notes to allow tracking of changes over time.
Federal Tax Regulations
Full, official text of the Treasury Department interpretations of the IRC, including final, temporary and proposed
regulations.
Cases
Includes all United States Tax Court decisions back to 1913, consisting of federal court decisions (U.S. District
Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals and U.S. Supreme court) in the federal tax area. Includes all Tax Court Regular and
Memorandum decisions back to 1942, and all decisions of the Board of Tax Appeals (the Tax Court’s predecessor)
back to its inception in 1924.
Last 1954 Code
Last 1939 Code
Letter Rulings & IRS Positions (including TAMs and FSAs)
Rulings & Other Docs
Full text of federal administrative rulings and documents, including Revenue Rulings, Revenue Procedures, Treasury
Decisions, IRS Announcements and more. (1954-present)
1939-1CB Committee Reports
Committee Reports on ACT 1913, 1914, and Revenue Act of 1916 to 1938 Inclusive
Committee Reports on various Acts containing Amendments to Revenue Acts
Page 72
Internal Revenue Manual
Official text of the IRS publication, including procedural information on examination principals and audits of specific
tax issues. Also covers administration, collection, taxpayer service, employee plans and exempt organizations,
appeals criminal investigation, inspection and penalties.
IRS Publications
Narrative insight and guidance from the viewpoint of the IRS - as stated in over 150 Publications.
IRS Penalties Handbook
PRACTICE AIDS
Interactive Research Aids
This innovative suite of interactive web applications covers a broad range of topics and helps you reach
tax research conclusions quickly.
Topic Navigator
The Topic Navigator gathers CCH content into a topically-organized map. You can use this map to locate particular
topics of interest and then link directly to resources available on Tax Research NetWork for that topic.
CCH Client Letter Toolkit
The Toolkit contains a wide variety of sample letters to print and send to taxpayers. Sample letters regarding issues
such as pensions, audits, divorce, charitable giving, etc. are included.
CCH Depreciation Toolkit
Interactive Toolkit allows assembly and printing of a customized depreciation schedule.
Tax Rates and Tables
All the critical tax rates and amounts in one convenient location.
Tax Tables, Charts & Checklists
Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-147) has many important provisions affecting both
businesses and individuals.
Tax Calendar
This customizable tax calendar reflects significant federal tax dates occurring 2005, 2006 or 2007
Election and Compliance Toolkit
This interactive tool guides in creating over 760 elections, with links to relevant authority.
Page 73
Depreciation Guide
Depreciation rules regarding a variety of situations
U.S. Master GAAP Guide
Offers solutions to many complex accounting and disclosure problems by providing technical analysis, new insights,
and practical explanations of accounting principles.
IRS Actuarial Factors
Instantly finds or calculates the exact actuarial factor needed.
Federal Sales Tax Deduction Toolkit
time-saving add-on look-up tool and enables users to:
•
Instantly look up applicable local sales tax rates and do all the calculations — customized for each client —
in a flash.
•
Locate the local rates and does the computations for the taxpayer, simply by inputting the taxpayer’s zip
code of residence.
•
Look up multiple rates for multiple tax jurisdictions — plus computations are done instantly.
•
Easily determine if the sales tax deduction will be the best choice for the taxpayer.
•
Link directly to explanatory discussions of the new tax deduction in the CCH Tax Research Consultant and
the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
Business Calculators
Loan Amortization, Savings Bond, Per Diem Rates, Mortgage Comparison, Auto Lease/ Buy
Tax Preparation Calculators
Rate/Phase-Out, Federal Withholding (Form W-4), Employee Auto Inclusion, IRA Comparison
FEDERAL TAX ARCHIVES
Complete text of the Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter as it existed at the end of each year from 1986 through
last year, with complete text of the Internal Revenue Code at the end of each year from 1978 through 1985. Also
included is the last 1954 and 1939 Code.
TOPICAL INDEXES
Publications arranged alphabetically by topic as in a print index.
Page 74
STATE TAB - CCH INTERNET CONTENT
(subject to CCH Library subscription)
SALES & USE TAX NEWS
State Tax Day
Daily updates of developing state taxes…issues, trends and legislation. Tax Day provides direct links to the full text
of state tax source documents. State Tax Day also includes a rolling 12-month archive of state news.
Cases and Rulings in the News (States A-M and N-Z)
This provides full-text of a wide variety of late-breaking documents, such as cases and revenue rulings, and the latest
interpretations of federal and state tax laws.
Sales and Use Tax Alert
This is a journalistic approach to gathering and reporting information relevant to coping with sales and use tax
compliance for multi-state organizations. Links to relevant full text source documents and expert analysis.
State Tax Review
Notes changes in laws, pertinent court decisions, and administrative rulings and offers expert articles from the CCH
State Tax Advisory Board and contributing editors.
Property Tax Review
This is a journalistic approach to gathering and reporting information relevant to coping with property tax compliance
for multi-state organizations. Links to relevant full text source documents and expert analysis.
PROPERTY TAX
Multistate Property Tax Smart Charts
Covers general administrative provisions, specifics types of property, property tax filing deadlines and more.
Multistate Property Tax Legislative Developments
Keep you up-to-date with any legislative developments by instantly finding any Tax Day stories regarding legislation
for a particular state in the current year. You can even link directly to the bill or law of the text! Simply select a tax
type and you’ll be provided with all legislative summaries for the present year. Results include:
•
Year
•
Jurisdiction
•
Tax Type
•
Tax Day Story headline
•
Link to the text of the Tax Day story
•
Link to the text of the bill or law
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Multistate Property Tax Guide
Contains detailed coverage of every state’s property tax law – including all applicable statutes, regulations, cases and
administrative rulings and releases. Comprehensive, in-depth explanations and practitioner-oriented analysis, as well
as Relate functionality.
Property Tax Concepts
Interactive glossary focused exclusively on property tax phrases and issues including real and personal property.
Multistate Property Tax Assessor Finder
Provides contact information and websites (where applicable) for state AND county property tax assessors in all
states plus the District of Columbia all in one place.
Multistate Personal Property Tax Depreciation Tables
Provides easy access to valuation guidelines and depreciation schedules and applies to jurisdictions that impose
personal property tax and for specific industries (when applicable). Also provides links to personal property tax
assessment manuals, depreciation or percent good tables and related documents.
SALES & USE TAX SMART CHARTS & LOOKUPS
Multistate Sales Tax Smart Charts
The Multistate Sales Tax Smart Charts provide state information on a variety of sales and use tax topics for all 45
states that impose sales or transaction taxes, plus the District of Columbia.
Multistate Sales Tax Legislative Developments
Keep you up-to-date with any legislative developments by instantly finding any Tax Day stories regarding legislation
for a particular state in the current year. You can even link directly to the bill or law of the text! Simply select a tax
type and you’ll be provided with all legislative summaries for the present year. Results include:
•
Year
•
Jurisdiction
•
Tax Type
•
Tax Day Story headlines
•
Link to the text of the Tax Day story
•
Link to the text of the bill or law
Healy & Schadewald’s Annual Revenue Department Surveys, (Sales Tax) Smart Charts
The Sales Tax Survey Smart Charts provide state survey information on a variety of sales and use tax topics for all 45
states that impose sales or transaction taxes, plus the District of Columbia.
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SST State Taxability Matrices Smart Charts
The SST State Taxability Matrices Smart Charts provide taxability information based on the Taxability Matrices
published by the state tax departments pursuant to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.
SST Compliance Smart Charts
The SST State Compliance Smart Charts provide state sales and use tax compliance information based on the
Certificates of Compliance submitted by the state tax departments pursuant to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax
Agreement.
Yetter’s Drop Shipments Survey Smart Charts
The Drop Shipment Survey Smart Charts provide state survey information on drop shipments for all 45 states that
impose sales or transaction taxes, plus the District of Columbia.
ZipSales Lookup
CCH ZIPsales Lookup helps you quickly find state, county, and local sales and use tax rates. It is updated monthly
and provides both the current rates and prior rates.
Sales & Use Tax Answers
This guide provides the key reference for your sales and use tax questions for those 45 states and the District of
Columbia that impose a sales tax on the retail sale of intangible personal property and selected services.
Tax Calendar
Easily customizable calendars of federal and state tax due dates based on the tax types and jurisdictions you specify.
The calendar displays due dates, along with filing instructions in an easy-to-read format.
Unclaimed Property Smart Charts
This smart chart covers a full range of Unclaimed Property topics, including dormancy periods, reporting
requirements, forms and state contacts. The smart chart also provides answers and authority, linked back to the
Multistate Sales Tax Guide, in multi-jurisdictional, customizable and matrices.
SALES & USE TAX RESEARCH
Multistate Sales Tax Guide
This publication leads you through all aspects of the sales and use tax levied by U.S. states, plus the District of
Columbia.
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Annual Revenue Department Surveys, (Sales Tax) by J.C. Healy and M.S. Schadewald
This publication guides the user through sales tax questions, providing quick access to each state’s statement of its
position on key issues in sales and use taxation. It includes a variety of easy-to-access charts that summarize each
state’s answers to key issues in sales and use taxation from the top state officials who interpret and apply the rules.
Understanding & Managing Sales & Use Tax by Robert C. Fields
Helps businesses cope with challenging sales and use tax issues by providing a wealth of illustrative examples,
discussions, charts, diagrams, cases and practical methods for sales and use tax management. This guide is
arranged in a two-part format: Concepts of Sales and Use Tax and Management of the Sales and Use Tax Function.
Sales & Use Tax Nexus; Practical Insights & Strategies by Maryann Gall
Examines the specific actions, legal issues and players that surround the determination of sales and use tax nexus –
what constitutes a sufficient connection between out-of-state vendor and state to trigger tax collection responsibility.
It covers the current state of sales and use tax nexus through the discussion of the tension between preexisting tax
laws, regulations and rulings, and more recent innovative business models.
Drop Shipments: Taxation, Compliance and Planning by Diane L. Yetter
This is a survey-based research product demystifying the complicated issue of drop shipments by offering the states’
official positions on drop shipment taxability. Discusses this issue in detail, and includes the states’ specific answers
to the survey questions.
Unclaimed Property: Laws, Compliance & enforcement by A.L. Andreoli & J.B. Spotswood
This is a comprehensive treatise on all aspects of Unclaimed Property law, with an emphasis on compliance and
enforcement issues. Also includes full text of uniform unclaimed property acts, author summaries of relevant cases
and practice tools designed to assist the user with reporting and compliance.
Special Focus: Streamlined Sales Tax Project by J.C. Healy
The Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) represents the most comprehensive attempt at broad-based reform of the
sales tax system in all the states since sales taxes were first enacted in the 1930s. This publication will guide you
through the SST Project with easy interpretation.
Understanding the Streamlined Sales Tax Project
The Understanding the Streamlined Sales Tax Project publication contains CCH Explanations.
Construction Industry: Sales & Use Taxation Issues by Daniel M. Davis
This MultiState Construction Industry Publication will detail the basic sales & use tax concepts, exemptions from tax,
which contract related services are taxable, and anything dealing with contractor issues.
T
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Telecommunications Taxation: COST 2004 State Study and Report
This is the actual study and report from the Council On State Taxation whose objective is to preserve and promote
the equitable and nondiscriminatory state and local taxation of multi-jurisdictional business entities.
SALES & USE TAX AUDITS
Multistate Guide to Sales & Use Tax Audits by Daniel M. Davis
This guide provides state-specific material for preparing for and handling an audit in all states that impose sales and
use taxes. Readers will gain an increased understanding of why their businesses or clients were selected for audit,
how their audits will proceed, what the audit staff will be looking for and how assessments are developed.
Surviving a Sales & Use Tax Audit by John C. Healy
This easy-to-understand resource examines the many factors that affect the outcome of a sales and use tax audit.
Also includes a discussion of the important considerations that can help the taxpayer actively achieve a successful
audit outcome.
Statistical Sampling in Sales & Use Tax Audits by Will Yancey
Examines the objectives for sampling and how sampling fits in to the fundamental steps of tax auditing. Describes
and defines the important concepts and methods, using real-world experience and know-how with special “Cautions”
and “Planning Notes” to help you absorb key points. Also includes citations to legal authority, state-by-state
administrative guidance, extensive references to sampling publications and software, along with samples and
illustrative exhibits.
PRACTICE AIDS
Sales & Use Tax Forms & Instructions
This area includes all Sales & Use Tax forms and instructions for states and some localities. Forms are in Adobe
format.
Sales & Use Tax Exemption Certificates
This includes Exemption Certificates forms for states. Forms are in Adobe format.
This Week’s Legislative Activity
StateNet™ can be used to stay apprised of proposed and enacted legislative activity.
Current Year’s Final & Pending Legislation (A-M & N-Z)
Follows law in StateNet™.
Prior Years’ Final & Pending Legislation (A-M & N-Z)
Follows law in StateNet™.
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Regulatory Activity
Follows state regulatory developments.
TAX LAW and REGULATION ARCHIVE
This includes access to each state's statutes and Regulations, 2001 to 2004.
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Appendix C – Best Practices
Best Practices
Best Practice: Use CCH@Hand icons and the CCH@Hand
Browser toolbar to log in automatically without having to
enter your User ID or password. To download and install
CCH@Hand, go to: http://athand.cch.com
Page Number
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Best Practice: Sharing TRN IDs is not recommended
because only one person can be logged in on a single ID at
a time, with last login having control. In addition, all search
preferences are ID specific. Contact your CCH Sales
Representative regarding additional IDs.
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Best Practice: Sign up for the CCH@Hand web training to
learn how you can take advantage of the powerful research
tools available within CCH@Hand.
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Best Practice: Use Clear Selections at any point during
your research session to reset the system and return to
the main menu of the tab you are working on. This allows
you to start over with one click from anywhere at anytime.
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Best Practice: Click on the CCH Logo next to any
publication. This enables you to create your personalized
library of publications on the My CCH tab under Favorite
Research Publications.
Best Practice – If you have CCH@Hand installed, your
daily news will automatically be delivered to your desktop
each morning. When you click on the headline, your news
will appear in the CCH@Hand Desktop Console. From
your news story, you can click on hotlinks to extend your
research.
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Best Practice. Within your Tax Tracker News, create
Research Folders to save those news stories that are
relevant to you, your practice area, and your clients; and
create a newsletter that reports only those stories of
interest.
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Best Practice: Partners, managers and tax staff should
check CCH Tax Tracker News to stay current on daily
changes and how they impact specific clients
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Best Practice: State Tax Day is a composite of the day’s
stories regarding all tax types for each state. As a result,
when you are looking for the most up-to-the-minute
information regarding anything at all having to do with
taxes, use State Tax Day.
Best Practice: In many instances, a bill starts off regarding
one topic and is later amended into a bill that has nothing
to do with the original topic. Researching the differences
in one bill through its various incarnations can be done
using the Current Year’s Final and Pending Legislation
feature under the State Tax tab in TRN. Through this
feature, a researcher can easily see the differences in a
specific law from the introduced stage to amended to
engrossed to enacted.
Best Practice: If you are unfamiliar with a topic and just
need some background or general information, you may
want to browse or conduct a keyword search in the
Standard Federal Tax Reporter – Explanations, which is
located on the Federal Tab under the CCH Explanations
and Analysis shaded bar.
Best Practice: Use Synopsis [.01s] for a brief overview of a
Code Section and for links to deeper content.
Best Practice: Use Headings at the top of the document or
menu to navigate to previous menu levels instead of the
Back button in your browser. It also indicates what topic
or area of law you are reviewing. When browsing this
allows you to make selections under one section and
move back to a previous level and make additional
choices.
Best Practice: As discussed, documents added to
Research Folders are updated automatically when revised.
For your auditing needs - once you have completed your
research on a particular issue you might want to export the
version of the documents as they existed the day you put
them in the Research Folders into a RTF file and save the
file locally into your client/audit sub-folder by selecting all
or selected documents and then exporting documents to
Word.
Best Practice: Minimize the Print Text Only window to keep
it open in the background. Return to your document and
continue your research. Click on a code section referenced
in the CCH Explanation. Click on the window taskbar to
open the CCH Explanation in the Text Only box to view
both the CCH Explanation and the state statute side by
side.
Best Practice: Prior to printing a document, open the text
only window and click on File- Print Preview to see how
many pages the document is.
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Best Practice: To save time, place your email address in
preferences. Your email will now automatically appear in
the From field when you email from an open document.
Best Practice: Scan the “ANNOTATED AT’ area of the
Citator Listing. Any paragraph number below .10 is a CCH
Explanation. This indicates the case or ruling you’re
viewing is cited in the current year analysis and may yield
important information in how this is being applied under
current law.
Best Practice: Begin your research with broad search
terms and then narrow if necessary by searching within
the search results list.
Best Practice: Click on “Regulations” or “Current
Developments” to get a more targeted list of document
types.
Best Practice: State tax reporting products are arranged by
tax topic (compared to code-based as in FED). It often
speeds the research process if initial word searches are
broad (fewer and simpler terms), and limited to
explanations.
Best Practice: Choose “Select All” on blue bar and
keyword search the Topical Index. This will find all
references to your topic and utilize the CCH Thesaurus to
find industry synonyms.
Best Practice: Quickly compare and contrast how your
selected states treat the tax topics you’re researching
within your SmartCharts by using the Matrix feature in the
Display As field. Your topics will be displayed in the left
column, and your states will be displayed across the top.
Best Practice: After exporting your document to Excel, use
the Save Chart feature to rerun your chart at any point in
the future without having to reset your choices. Using
“Open My Charts” at any point to review the last time your
chart was run, view your selections and quickly review
highlighted areas (indicated in yellow as discussed above).
Use the yellow highlighted features to quickly identify what
sections of your saved chart needs to be updated.
Best Practice: When saving a Smart Chart for future
reference the links remain live. Thus, if the researcher
wants to archive authority or explanations cited in a chart
as in effect at the time of the research session, that should
be done separately, by printing or saving the text, since
the live link in the saved material will retrieve the latest
version of the linked material when used at a future time.
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Best Practice: Many Smart Charts frequently contain short
specific comments. Words and phrases used in these
comments can be helpful in doing a word search in the
state and topic of interest. These terms might also help to
quickly scan linked citations for key information.
Best Practice: Send your SmartChart results to your staff
and colleagues for review and follow-up by exporting your
chart to Excel through the Export link located within the
Navigation Bar at the top of your chart. Then prepare an email and attach the Excel version of the chart complete
with the hotlinks to the topic citations.
Best Practice: If your research is interrupted, you can
return to your stopping place by clicking on Research
History.
Best Practice: Track your research for a specific client or
issue by adding a comment for each session. If you
research several different issues, go to Research History
and put in a new comment for each issue.
Best Practice: IIn many instances, a bill starts off
regarding one topic and is later amended into a bill that
has nothing to do with the original topic. Researching the
differences in one bill through its various incarnations can
be done using the Current Year’s Final and Pending
Legislation feature under the State Tax tab in TRN.
Through this feature, a researcher can easily see the
differences in a specific law from the introduced stage to
amended to engrossed to enacted.
Best Practice: State Tax Day is a composite of the day’s
stories regarding all tax types for each state. As a result,
when you are looking for the most up-to-the-minute
information regarding anything at all having to do with
taxes, use State Tax Day.
Best Practice (Client): For a comprehensive list of Federal
and State due dates use the List Display feature. Copy and
paste the list into Excel and email to your client as a quick
reference tool.
Best Practice (Practitioner): Create a calendar using the
Calendar Display style. Save the calendar to your browser
favorites for ready access for client due dates.
Best Practice: When you need to conduct research in
either the Property Tax or Sales and Use Tax divisions of
the State Tax Reporters, a quick and easy way to
determine if the topic you’re researching is discussed is to
menu walk to the “Taxability of Persons and Transactions”
section in the Sales and Use section or “Taxability of
Property and Persons” in the Property section. (To do
this: go to the State Tax tab, click on State, click on State
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State
State
Tax Calendar
State
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Tax Reporter, select either Property or Sales and Use,
select Explanations and Annotations, select Taxability
of…) It is in those sections that specific transactions
and/or industries are discussed.
Best Practice: Choose Title with URL when e-mailing
colleagues who have access to the Tax Research Network.
The recipient can use the URL to login and utilize all of the
resources available within that document (such as linking
to other documents or saving to Research Folder). This
would significantly enhance their productivity by having
access to other resources in addition to just sharing the
contents of that single document. Does not apply to IP
access.
Best Practice: Complete your research by accessing
“Practice Aids”, within the “Tax Tools” tab to utilize any of
the many tools found there.
General
General
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Appendix D – Case Studies
Standard Federal Tax Reporter
Research Case Study - Travel Expenses: employee v. entity
Keith Stevens is a professional in the venture capital / private equity field. He has extensive
experience as a managing director at several large Boston VC firms.
For the past two years he has operated as a consultant and has done work both as a sole
proprietor, (reporting on schedule "C"), and through a Limited Liability Company, (LLC), that he
set up about six years ago.
Keith has recently been approached by a New York City based private equity firm with an offer
to join the firm as an executive. Keith would be a W-2 employee with this firm, receiving a
salary and having his payroll taxes withheld.
Keith is very interested in this position and in negotiating his position the private equity firm
agreed that Keith could maintain his residence in Massachusetts and simply commute several
days per week to New York City. Keith would rent an apartment in Manhattan for his use during
the days he is in New York City to avoid daily commuting and to allow more efficient use of his
time and flexibility in meeting the time demands of his work.
Keith would like to deduct the cost of this apartment, but believes as an employee, tax
deductibility would be an issue since the apartment is for his convenience more than a
requirement for his employer. Therefore, Keith is looking for another way to get the tax
deduction. He is interested in determining if rather than joining this firm as an employee, he can
get the apartment cost as a tax deduction by having the private equity firm hire his LLC to
provide his services to the firm.
Issue: Can a business taxpayer(Keith’s LLC) deduct the expense of lodging over an
indefinite period of time when he is working away from home?
indefinite period of time when he is working away from home?
Research Methods on TRN:
Search Method: Target the Standard Federal Tax Reporter by clicking on the box to the left of
the title. Enter the search term into the search expression box.
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Search Term, (work away from home) using the all terms search function.
Search results: In reviewing the documents from the search results list item #2 ¶8570.024
would bring us directly to the issue. This document contains most of the required documents to
substantiate the answer. The leading case 58-2 USTC ¶9925 (J.E.Peurifoy), Code Sec.162 (a)
and numerous sites to other relevant source documents dealing with the issue like Rev.Rul.9386. These documents can now be stored into Research Folders. Clicking on add icon under
research folder icon on the document tool bar and create a new research folder. Returning to
the search results and continuing our quest for additional information item #10 ¶8570.021, also
add to our understanding of “ Away from Home” requirements defined.
Search Method: Target the Standard Federal Tax Reporter Explanation by clicking on the box
to the left of the title. Enter the search term into the search expression box.
Let use another search express that also describe the same facts and issue.
Search Term: (Lodging expense temporary home) using the all term function
Search Results: In reviewing the documents from search results list, again ¶8570.024 and
¶8570.021 are listed in items #1 and #4.
Browsing: Click on the title Standard Federal Tax Reporter. Since our issues involves a
business deduction clicking on the title Deductions Sec. 161-241, would be our first logical
choice. Since this definitely would be a itemimized deduction the next step would be to target
Itemimized Deduction Sec 161-224. The first selection Trade & Business Expenses (travel,
entertainment, etc) seems to follow our fact pattern. We have now arrived at all the primary
and secondary documents dealing with at IRC 162. Scrolling down the different documents the
CCH explanation titled What is “Away from Home” follows as next logical choice. There are 8
explanations dealing with What is “Away from Home” the explanation that deals with the Away
from Home Requirements should add insight to or issue. Reviewing ¶8570.024 answers our
issue, which also contains all relevant source documents that again can be added to a research
folder
Topical Index The index is located at the bottom on the Federal Tax tab scrolling down to the
index you will notice that it is publication specific. Clicking on the title Standard Federal Tax
Reporter displays an A-Z alphabetical listing.
Since our issue deals with travel expense scrolling down to “T” and targeting with a click in the
box to the left of T and entering travel expense in the search expression box at top of screen.
Choosing Item #1 in the search results list Travel Expense and opening these documents
brings us to all the sub-listing for travel expense. The next step would be to scroll down this subAppendix D – Case Studies
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listing to next appropriate entry that would satisfy our issue. “Indefinite v. Temporary
assignments” would be our first possible choice and the ¶8570.024
Find by Citation: When you know the primary source document relating to your research issue,
you can go directly to that document using Find by Citation.
Click on the Federal Tab and scroll down to the Primary Source blue bar. Click on the box to
the left of Ruling and Other Documents then click on Find by Citation in the Navigation Bar.
You will be presented with the appropriate citation template. Locate the line with Revenue
Ruling enter 93-86 and click the search button on the left. This will take you directly to your
document.
Note: CCH Tax Research NetWork has a unique feature called Quick Link that allows you to
simply type in a citation to a code section, case or ruling to quickly locate a specific document.
This can be found on the MY CCH tab under the Research Tools section. Upon logging into Tax
Research NetWork just type in Revenue Ruling 93-86 and click on Search to right to that
ruling. Another way to use Quick Link is from within a document. Simply highlight any citation
(say “Code Sec. 162” at the top of the ruling), move your mouse over Find by Citation and the
Quick Link box will appear.
Answer and analysis:
The answer as to whether Keith can claim a deduction for apartment expenses his LLC incurs
for him to do contracting work for the New York firm can be found in Code Sec. 162 in the flush
language following Code Sec. 162(a). Basically, the deduction can be claimed for expenses for
lodging away from home to do temporary work, but the work is not temporary if it lasts longer
than one year. Essentially, the New York apartment will become Keith’s “tax home” after one
year of working in New York. This determination of whether or not the work is “temporary” or
“indefinite” is also based upon a consideration of all of the facts and circumstances.
It appears as though the work is intended to last longer than one year, which would mean that
the deduction would not be allowed. On the other end of the spectrum, it has been suggested
that the IRS would be unlikely to interfere with a claimed deduction if the work was expected to
and actually did last less than a year. Nevertheless, for a fact pattern where the employment is
expected to last less than a year, the facts and circumstances can still be the key factor. The
leading case in this area is Peurifoy v. Commissioner, which applied to a pipe fitter who travelled
around to different locations to work. The whole idea of the disallowance of a deduction in the
case of indefinite employment is that an individual is expected to change his or her residence to
match his or her work location. However, in the case of a pipe fitter with a family working two or
three-month jobs in many locations during the year, relocation is unreasonable. This isn’t the
case for Keith. If this is the only work that Keith will be performing for his single-member LLC,
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then he is choosing to make the commute, and the facts are not similar to Peurifoy. The bottom
line is that the only way Keith could claim a deduction for the apartment is if the work lasts less
than a year, and even then an argument can still be made against it.
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Corporate Income Tax Case Study
Company A transferred its trademarks, trade names, and service marks to Company B, an
affiliate and Delaware holding company. Company B licenses the intellectual property to
Company A for use in the manufacture, advertising, marketing, distribution, and sale of
Company A’s products. In return, Company A pays royalties and management fees to Company
B. Company A’s products are sold nationwide, including sales to customers located in California.
Company B has no offices, employees, agents, real or personal property located outside of
Delaware.
Potential Research Questions
1. Does Company B have income tax nexus with California?
2. Are the companies unitary and subject to combined reporting in California?
3. Are the royalty payments and management fees considered business income subject to
apportionment?
4. What portion, if any, of Company B’s income must be included in the California apportionment
formula?
Research Methods on TRN
The first question researched is Does Company B have income tax nexus with California?
Review facts and key terms: Company A has sales in California, Co. B is a Delaware holding
company. B licenses intellectual property to A in return for royalties.
We would like to begin with general knowledge of how “nexus” is treated in California.
Next step is to select a research method--
Smart Charts
In State Business Income Tax tab, open Multistate Income Tax Smart Charts
Enter “Nexus” and click “Search Topics”
Expand “Filing Requirements” and check “Nexus,” then click on “Next”
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Select California, and then click on “Next”
Review Smart Chart presented. Key information listed in Smart Chart:
a. Physical presence not required (that is, for nexus)
b. Corporations doing business in CA are taxable, and transactions involving intangibles
are not protected
Review information presented. An initial determination is that Co. B has nexus with California.
However, we need additional support and documentation to support this initial determination.
Follow Smart Chart link to CCH Explanation (¶10-075).
Consider Document Options to substantiate research session.
--Use Research Folder, Add, to Create & label research folder--“California Treatment of
Company B” for example, and add ¶10-075.
--Then, review explanation in light of the facts presented. The explanation presents a discussion
of nexus. However, additional detail on holding companies is needed.
Options for extending research from ¶10-075 include: (1) Use Smart Relate to list CA Laws,
Regulations, etc.; (2) Review linked materials from ¶10-075; (3) Review annotations, and (4)
Related Topics – State.
However, it may be desirable and expedient to try a word search, given that there are so many
possible research paths from ¶10-075. The paragraph is now in the research folder for later
review.
Word search
We now have general information on “nexus,” but we need to see quickly if holding companies
and nexus are associated in CCH’s documents, since Co. B is a holding company.
Within the State Tax Library tab go to the State Tax Reporters blue bar and click on California,
then open the California State Tax Reporter. Check the box for “Income Tax, Corporate”.
Enter “nexus and holding company” in search window. Click on “Search Tools” and select
search method = Boolean, and then under “Narrow Search by Document type” select CCH
Explanation. Click on “Search Now.”
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Review list of Explanations. Select from list ¶10-212, Intangible Property Holding Companies.
--Add ¶10-212 to the research folder we’ve created: “California Treatment of Company B”
Note final paragraph of this explanation: “California has not addressed the issue of an intangible
property holding company. However, intangible holding companies that are part of a unitary
business must be included in a combined report.”
Our next step is to research “unitary business” and “combined report,” terms we identified in
reading the explanation. Combined report may be further researched by beginning with the
hyperlink presented in the explanation. However, the combined report is a consequence of
unitary business classification. Thus, we want to first research “unitary business.”
Browsing
The next step is to research “unitary business” in California.
click on the California State Tax Reporter, click on “Income Tax, Corporate”, click on
“Explanations and Annotations” at the top of the document type list. On the subtopic list, select
“Allocation and Apportionment,” as the treatment of a “unitary business” raises apportionment
issues. The next screen shows a list of “Allocation and Apportionment subtopics. However, the
phrase “unitary business” does not appear on the list.
To check for discussion of “unitary business” check next to “Allocation and Apportionment” on
the blue bar. Enter unitary business in the search window, and then click on Search. This
produces about six screens on search results. To narrow this search, click on Search Tools, then
select “Exact Phrase” as the search method, and, under “Narrow search by document type,”
select “CCH explanation” only. Click on Search Now button.
The search results list now consists of six documents. These may be navigated as follows. Click
on document listed, “¶11-505 Allocation and Apportionment”. Use the 1st Term button at this
point. By doing that, you jump to the subtopic “Apportionment” and the text notes that unitary
businesses apportion their income.
There are various potential paths to extend research at this point. There is a link to ¶11-520
within the Apportionment subtopic. Alternatively, we could return to the search results list, and
review the explanations in order. However, before choosing one of those options, add ¶11-505
to the research folder created for this session.
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Regardless of the choice made at this point, ¶11-520 will be reviewed. It is second on the
document list, and could be chosen there by association of the title (¶11-520 Apportionment)
with our research to this point.
One benefit of navigation by navigating back to the Search Results list is that the search phrase
“unitary business” will remain highlighted, whereas connecting by hyperlink will not preserve the
highlighting of the search phrase. In addition, the best practice would be to at least scan through
the complete list of explanations.
So, navigating back to the list using the “List” button, then opening ¶11-520, then using the “1st
Term” button brings up a detailed discussion of “unitary business.” This document should be
added to the research folder created for this session.
After reviewing this discussion, we decide to return to this paragraph later. We also note an FTB
Letter Ruling that we may want to review. The citation for this document in linked in the
explanation, but we just note the citation at this time: (LR 91-1, FTB, November 1, 1991, ¶402119)
As a next step, we have not yet added to our research folder anything directly on “Combined
Reporting.”
Topical Indexes
click on the “California Topical Index,” click on “Income Tax, Corporate”, then click on “C”. Read
down the list to find the desired term “Combined reports.” Click on “Combined reports,” then
click on the link to “allocation and apportionment … ¶11-550.” Notice that this list presents
explanations and annotations. (Explanations are in a ¶xx-xxx format, while annotations are in a
¶xx-xxx.xx format.) Click again on the explanation “¶11-550 Combined Reports” at the top of the
list.
This extensive explanation details Combined Reporting in California. It is pertinent to our
research and we could export, print or email it if necessary. However, we will add it to our
research folder created for this session, rather than selecting those options.
At this point, we have added to our research folders materials needed to give an initial opinion
on the first two questions, and that would yield background information on the other questions.
To validate that initial opinion, we could use the included links to review laws, regulations, and
other primary sources cited that seem to have particular importance to our research.
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We will want to review these materials by going back to our document folder, and recalling
them. However, one additional document is needed for this stage of the research, the FTB
Letter Ruling that we listed previously.
Find by Citation
Many times there is a familiar case, or law, or other document, and it is efficient to link directly to
the document.
On the State Tax Library tab, first target the publication believed to hold the desired document.
In this case check the box to the left of California then click on the “Find by Citation” button.
Scroll down through the document citations found in the California State Tax Reporter and look
for the FTB Letter Ruling entry. In the box following “FTB Legal Ruling No.” enter 91-1 and click
on “Search.
Add this Letter Ruling to the document folder, and use one of the other document handling
options as well if desired.
General Suggestions
The remaining questions may require additional research after review of the documents listed in
the research folder. General suggestions are browsing the menu for general topics, such as
apportionment, or nexus. Word searching may be used to quickly size up the scope of material
available on any particular issue. If there are many hits in an initial word search, a search limited
to explanations may be helpful. If there are no pertinent explanations, then extend the search to
annotations, then laws, regulations, and finally cases and rulings. The initial use of the editorial
materials--explanations and annotations--will usually help to quickly scope the issue, provide
background, and highlight those primary sources that have direct application to the research
questions. In some situations, looking up a known citation (for all types of documents) or using
an index in a reporter (for CCH explanations and annotations) may provide quick access to a
needed document.
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Appendix E – CCH@Hand
CCH@Hand icons and the CCH@Hand Browser toolbar all allow you to log in to the
CCH Tax Research NetWork automatically, without having to enter a User ID and
password. To download and install CCH@Hand go to: http://athand.cch.com
CCH@Hand Desktop
The CCH@Hand Desktop lets you search CCH, the Web (with Google™), and files on
your computer (with Google™ Desktop) from a handy desktop tool that’s easy to use.
You can also search for CCH documents by citation, run searches against your index
content, and view and manage your daily Tracker News and your Research Folders
from the CCH@Hand Desktop.
CCH@Hand Office 2003 Tools
The CCH@Hand Search Services for the Research Task Pane let you search for, view, and
manage documents right from your Microsoft Office 2003 applications.
CCH@Hand Smart Tags automatically recognize citations in your documents and provide
you with options for working with the citations. You can link citations to actual
documents on CCH Tax Research NetWork, view related documents, and even insert
an excerpt or the full text of a cited document right into your current work. The
CCH@Hand Toolbar for Microsoft Word gives you quick access to the Research Task
Pane, lets you quickly link or unlink all citations in a document.
CCH@Hand Browser Toolbar
A handy toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer lets you search CCH Tax Research
NetWork, view news, manage your documents, and perform other research tasks from
anywhere on the Web.
CCH@Hand Desktop Tools
Icons on your desktop, system tray, and Quick Launch toolbar allow for quick and easy
access to the CCH@Hand Desktop and CCH Tax Research NetWork.
Appendix E – CCH@Hand
Page 95
Appendix F – ProSystem fx
Establishing a link between the CCH Tax Research NetWork and CCH ProSystem fx
provides quick and easy access to research from within tax compliance with a click of
the mouse.
Start by having the system administrator configure CCH ProSystem fx to provide this
link.
To establish the
link, open the
Office Manager
module; then
select
Configure,
Research; then
1.
2
3.
Page 96
Linking CCH Tax Research NetWork and CCH ProSystem fx
When the system administrator has completed these steps, the system is ready for
each user to configure his/her respective workstation.
To configure your workstation, open CCH ProSystem fx and make these adjustments:
1. Selection Options, then Interface Options.
2. Choose Research.
3. Click the CCH Tax Research NetWork button and enter your login User ID and
Password. Click OK.
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Linking CCH ProSystem fx and CCH Tax Research NetWork
After these steps have been completed, you are ready to link from compliance to
research with the click of your mouse. To make this function easier, add the CCH
Research icon to the CCH ProSystem fx toolbar. Then simply click on the icon.
To add the icon, choose (1) Options, (2) Customize Toolbar, (3) locate the
Research icon, (4) highlight it, and then (5) click on the Add button.
To link from compliance to research, place your cursor on the cell or box in either
Interview or Government View and click on the CCH Research icon on the toolbar. This
will open the CCH Tax Research NetWork and take you to the area where this subject is
discussed in the U.S. Master Tax Guide. Once you have accessed research, you are in
the CCH Tax Research NetWork and can research in any library or publication.
Another useful feature is the ability to copy a research answer from CCH Tax Research
NetWork to CCH ProSystem fx, and then paste the research into the tax return for a
record.
Page 98
Appendix G – Support Page
CCH offers many resources to help you work most effectively with your Tax Research
Network (TRN) product. Simply click the Training & Support tab to find out what is
available:
CCH Customer Support:
Use this section to contact CCH Customer support. Links are provided to the Customer
Support Web site and a contact via email. Phone numbers are also provided if you wish
to call CCH directly.
Tax Research NetWork Training:
Sign up for Tax Research NetWork web training classes..
Appendix G – Support Page
Page 99

Logging in to CCH Tax Research NetWork

Transcription

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