GCMs TMs and AODs--The 'Working Law' of the internal Revenue Service.

As a result of a recent freedom-of-information lawsuit, numerous memoranda which comprise the "working law" of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are now available to tax researchers. These documents - GCMs, TMs, and AODs - are sometimes referred to as "underlying documents" because they explain or comment on the related "action documents" which provide advice to taxpayers. The IRS has taken the position that these documents may not be cited as precedents by taxpayers. Whether they are citable to courts as precedents is a question for the judiciary to decide. Notwithstanding the Service's stance, the value of these documents in explaining the IRS position on a given issue is of considerable utility to tax researchers.