Income tax litigation begins one of three courts, as shown below.
The U.S. Tax Court is where proceedings begin if the taxpayer has not paid the tax. There is no right to a jury trial in this court. Judges have a tax expertise.
If a taxypayer has paid a tax and is then refused a refund, proceedings start in either the federal district court (where there is a right to a jury trial) or the Court of Federal Claims.
Decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Tax Court "Regular Opinions" can be thought of as "published opinions" and Memorandum Decisions as "unpublished opinions." Officially published in the U.S. Tax Court Reports, since Sept. 1995 they may be found on the Tax Court web site. The opinions are also found by searching the databases listed above.
Federal District Court decisions
Tax opinions are published, along with other federal district court opinions, in West's Federal Supplement (since 1932) and Federal Reporter (before 1932).
Search any of the named databases if the citation is known or by selecting federal cases.
Recent decisions may be found on the Court's website. Decisions may be located by citation or searching any of the four databases. They are published in the U.S. Court of Claims Reports; U.S. Claims Court Reporter (1982-1991) and Federal Claims Reporter (1992- ).
