The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) is the internal operating manual for IRS employees. It contains internal guidelines, procedures, and policies. As an intra-agency resource, the IRM is not intended for general use by taxpayers.
See below for how to find the Internal Revenue Manual, Revenue Procedures, and Delegation Orders.
Revenue Procedures are statements of internal IRS procedures and are usually written in response to queries from IRS Field Offices. They affect the rights and duties of taxpayers.
"A Revenue Procedure is a statement of procedure that affects the rights or duties of taxpayers or other members of the public under the Code and related statutes or information that, although not necessarily affecting the rights and duties of the public, should be a matter of public knowledge." 26 C.F.R. § 601.601(d)(2)(i)(b) (2020).
See below for how to find the Internal Revenue Manual, Revenue Procedures, and Delegation Orders.
Delegation Orders are used by the Commissioner of the IRS to delegate a portion of his statutory authority. They are published in the Internal Revenue Manual and in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
See below for how to find the Internal Revenue Manual, Revenue Procedures, and Delegation Orders.
Internal Revenue Manual Internal Revenue Service
Current version only. To search the IRM, use Google's Advance Search and put irs.gov/irm in the "site or domain" field.
Delegation Orders by Process Internal Revenue Service
Contains a listing of all current Delegation Orders and the IRMs in which they can be found.
Recently Approved Delegation Orders and Policy Statements Internal Revenue Service
Links to Policy Statements, Commissioner Delegation Orders, and Division Function Delegation Orders that have recently been approved but have not yet been published in the Internal Revenue Manual.
Internal Revenue Service
Various Revenue Procedures are located throughout the IRS website. To search the IRS website for revenue procedures, use Google's Advance Search and type revenue procedure in the "this exact word or phrase" field and irs.gov in the "site or domain" field. To narrow the search, add other search terms.
Internal Revenue Manual TaxNotes
Current version only. Can search by IRM section or with search terms.
Internal Revenue Manual
Available on the library's Lexis computers. From the Practice Area tab, select Tax Law > All Tax Law Administrative Materials > Internal Revenue Manual. Current edition only.
Internal Revenue Manual-Abridged and Annotated
Available on the library's Westlaw computers. From the All Content tab, select Administrative Decisions & Guidance > Internal Revenue Service IRS (listed under All Federal Administrative Decisions & Guidance) > Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) All [located in the Tools & Resources box on the right] > Internal Revenue Manual-Abridged & Annotated. A condensed version of the original Internal Revenue Manual that encompasses only the materials immediately useful to tax practitioners, including examination of filed tax returns, collection of delinquent taxes, appeals of disputed findings, and investigations of suspected criminal violations of law by the IRS written by Bryan E. Gates (a former internal procedures writer with the IRS). On Westlaw, the current unabridged Internal Revenue manual is available to RIA subscribers only, but historical versions back to 1997 are available.
IRS Delegation Orders
Available on the library's Westlaw computers. From the Practice areas tab, select Tax > Administrative Decisions & Guidance > All Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Materials > Delegation Orders. Contains delegation orders selected for publication in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, wherein the Commissioner of Internal Revenue delegates a portion of his or her statutory authority. Coverage begins with 1958.
IRS Revenue Procedures
Available on the library's Westlaw computers. From the Practice areas tab, select Tax > Administrative Decisions & Guidance > All Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Materials > Revenue Procedures. Contains documents released by the IRS regarding the official administrative and procedural management practices of the IRS that is selected for publication in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. Coverage begins with #55-1, 1955-2 CB 897.
Internal Revenue Manual
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From All Legal Content Search, select U.S. Regulatory & Administrative > U.S. Government Departments & Agencies > Internal Revenue Service > Guidance & Interpretation > Internal Revenue Manual and Transmittals > Internal Revenue Manual. Current year only.
Coordinated Issue Papers
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From All Legal Content Search, select U.S. Regulatory & Administrative > U.S. Government Departments & Agencies > Internal Revenue Service > Guidance & Interpretation > Coordinated Issue Papers. The IRS issues Coordinated Issue Papers to coordinate and resolve complex and significant industry wide issues by providing guidance to field examiners and ensuring uniform application of the law. Industry Specialization Program Papers are issued to promote identification and development of issues expected to be covered by IRS personnel when examining tax returns. Coverage begins with 2000.
Market Segment Specialization Program Audit Techniques Guides
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From All Legal Content Search, select U.S. Regulatory & Administrative > U.S. Government Departments & Agencies > Internal Revenue Service > Guidance & Interpretation > Market Segment Specialization Program Audit Techniques Guides. The IRS issues Market Segment Specialization Program Audit Guidelines to provide guidance to auditors on how to examine tax returns of businesses in specific industries. Current year only.
Revenue Procedures
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From All Legal Content Search, select U.S. Regulatory & Administrative > U.S. Government Departments & Agencies > Internal Revenue Service > Guidance & Interpretation > Directives & Advice > Revenue Procedures. Coverage begins with 1954.
Transmittals
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From All Legal Content Search, select U.S. Regulatory & Administrative > U.S. Government Departments & Agencies > Internal Revenue Service > Guidance & Interpretation > Internal Revenue Manual and Transmittals > Transmittals. Manual Transmittals are cover sheets for manual sections. They provide information about substantial changes to the IRM section, identifies the effect the changes might have on other IRM sections, provides revision and effective dates of the changes, and identifies the authorizing official and audience of the IRM section. Transmittals are often used for historical purposes in tax courts, audits and employee reviews. Coverage begins with Sept. 2009.
Internal Revenue Manual Text
Available on the library's VitalLaw computer. From Practice Areas, select Tax - Federal > Primary Sources > IRS Administrative Rulings & Positions > See All > Internal Revenue Manual Text. Current Manual only.
IRS Audit Positions
Available on the library's VitalLaw computer. From Practice Areas, select Tax - Federal > Primary Sources > IRS Administrative Rulings & Positions > See All > IRS Audit Positions. IRS Audit Positions contains the Coordinated Issue Papers (CIPs) and Appeals Settlement Guidelines (ASGs) used by IRS revenue agents and appeals officers to apply consistent treatment of issues to taxpayers in designated industry categories. It also includes Audit Technique Guides (ATGs) and Market Segment Understandings (MSUs) that are used by IRS revenue agents to insure consistent and thorough audits of specific industries and to provide guidance on specific industry issues.
Revenue Procedures
Available on the library's VitalLaw computer. From Practice Areas, select Tax - Federal > Primary Sources > IRS Administrative Rulings & Positions > See All > Revenue Procedures. Revenue Procedures outline procedures for complying with the tax law and may be cited as authority. Revenue Procedures cover a broad spectrum of administrative and procedural matters, such as procedures related to the adoption of new accounting methods, and methods of electronic filing. Coverage begins with 1955.
Revenue Procedures are published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
The Internal Revenue Bulletin is available for free online as well as on many legal databases, including the member database HeinOnline and on the library's in house Lexis and Westlaw computers. See the Internal Revenue Bulletin page of this guide for more information.
The Standard Federal Tax Reporter includes Revenue Procedures and Delegation Orders (as "Commission Delegation Orders").
Jenkins has access to the Standard Federal Tax Reporter on the library's VitalLaw computer beginning with 1986. Pre-1986 coverage is available on the member database HeinOnline. Select coverage is also available in print. See the Standard Federal Tax Reporter page of this guide for more information.