Deck 6: Commercial Tax Services

Question 1

Which of the statements below is CORRECT with reference to WestlawNext?

A) It automatically recognizes the format of questions and processes the query accordingly.
B) It recognizes citation formats entered in the search box.
C) It is a new search engine designed to simplify the research process of Westlaw.
D) All of the above statements are correct.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

RIA's annotated service, which formerly was known as PH Federal Taxes, is known by the following acronym:

A) the U.S. Master Tax Guide
B) AFTR
C) USTR
D) None of the above.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is Nexis?

A) It is LexisNexis's legal research system.
B) It is LexisNexis's news, financial, and business information service.
C) It includes the Tax Advisor - Federal Code Reporter.
D) None of the above statements accurately describe Nexis.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

If you performed a natural language search that returned 1000 documents, what could you do to narrow your search?

A) Reduce the number of databases searched.
B) Search within results.
C) Use terms and connectors to better define the relationship between keywords.
D) All of the above actions would help narrow the search results.

Question 5

CCH's flagship annotated tax service is entitled the:

A) Federal Tax Coordinator 2d.
B) Federal Tax Expert.
C) Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter.
D) United States Tax Reporter.

Question 6

Which of the following statements best describes Westlaw?

A) It has little value to accounting professionals.
B) It is legally oriented because it was designed by attorneys.
C) It is a division of LexisNexis.
D) None of the above statements accurately describe Westlaw.

Question 7

Which statement is CORRECT regarding annotated tax services?

A) They are organized by Internal Revenue Code section.
B) They provide annotations, which are comprehensive, detailed analyses of related court cases and administrative rulings.
C) They compile editorial explanations and evaluations of each Internal Revenue Code section.
D) All of the above statements are correct.
E) Only a) and c) are correct.

Question 8

The tax research platform 'IntelliConnect' is a product of which publisher?

A) Westlaw
B) CCH
C) BNA Tax & Accounting
D) None of the above.

Question 9

Which statement is CORRECT regarding commercial tax services?

A) They provide free access to all primary source tax materials.
B) They eliminate the need for reading primary tax law source materials.
C) They act as an index for and explanation of primary and secondary tax law source materials.
D) All of the above statements are correct.

Question 10

In some tax services, quotations marks are placed around the keywords to:

A) ensure that maximum number of documents is retrieved.
B) indicate that the words should be searched separately.
C) maximize the number of documents retrieved.
D) indicate that the words should be searched as a phrase.

Question 11

The key to effective tax research is:

A) finding your answer in free Internet sources.
B) avoiding preparer penalties.
C) finding the pertinent material necessary to arrive at an informed conclusion about the best treatment of a tax problem.
D) all of the above.

Question 12

If you want to retrieve documents relating to amortizing legal fees paid for organization of a partnership, which search query would yield the best results in RIA Checkpoint?

A) amortizing and legal fees
B) amortiz* "legal fees" partnership
C) amortization organization not corporations
D) amortize and "legal fees" or partnerships

Question 13

The starting point in approaching any tax research problem is to:

A) browse the Table of Contents.
B) formulate relevant tax questions and identify the issues associated with them.
C) evaluate the tax problem and suggest solutions to the taxpayers.
D) none of the above.

Question 14

Topical tax services:

A) provide annotations.
B) divide the tax law into transactions and related subject matter with underlying tax principles as an organizing format.
C) have explanations that are organized by Internal Revenue Code section numbers.
D) All of the above.

Question 15

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT regarding Tax Center?

A) It is a service developed by LexisNexis designed exclusively for tax practitioners.
B) It utilizes the KeySearch system to assist users in searching by particular topics.
C) It allows tax researchers to search across all content in a single search.
D) It includes the analytical materials of CCH, BNA, and Tax Analysts.

Question 16

The Freedom of Information Act gives U.S. citizens the right to access:

A) IRS records provided they are unprotected from disclosure.
B) only published IRS documents.
C) records held by the Congress.
D) records held by the Courts.
E) All of the above.

Question 17

Which feature of IntelliConnect enables tax practitioners to access prior year's tax law?

A) Standard Federal Income Tax Reporter
B) Tax Archives
C) Tax Research Consultant
D) IntelliConnect does not offer this service.

Question 18

Which strategy would be the most useful to a tax researcher unfamiliar with a particular tax topic?

A) Read the editorial explanation of the topic and the overview of the applicable law.
B) Perform a Google™ or Bing™ search.
C) Select a database to search.
D) None of the above.

Question 19

The Federal Tax Coordinator FTC) is published by:

A) RIA
B) CCH
C)
D) Westlaw

Question 20

Which of the following is CORRECT regarding BNA?

A) BNA is a division of Westlaw.
B) BNA's publications are available on most tax and legal services.
C) BNA is an independent, employee-owned publishing company.
D) Both b) and c) are correct.

Question 21

Explain the difference between an annotated tax service and a topical tax service. Give an example of each.

Question 22

RIA Checkpoint offers two main types of keyword searches: Terms & Connectors and Natural Language.

Question 23

LexisNexis offers a customized version of its services to academic institutions and public libraries called LexisNexis Academic.
Short

Question 24

Although most commercial tax services log off if there is a period of inactivity, IntelliConnect may be left open all day.

Question 25

The "after" date option in IntelliConnect allows a researcher to keep a document for later examination.

Question 26

The Federal Tax Coordinator is a topical service.

Question 27

An Index search can be more effective than a keyword search because the researcher has the benefit of the tax expertise of the indexer.

Question 28

Describe the contents of a BNA Tax Portfolio. What features make these research products unique?

Question 29

The BNA Tax Portfolios are unique because they are written by former IRS officials.

Question 30

Traditionally, commercial tax services are classified into two general types: primary and secondary.

Question 31

Keyword searches are not available when a researcher enters a tax service through the Table of Contents in RIA Checkpoint.

Question 32

Boolean connectors are used:

A) to define the relationship between keywords.
B) as one method of entering search terms in commercial tax services.
C) in natural language searches.
D) only a) and b).

Question 33

The oldest national CPA firm in the United States is Deloitte.

Question 34

The ResultsPlus, a unique feature of Westlaw, is a list of suggested analytical materials relevant to a search topic.

Question 35

Why would a researcher use a Table of Contents or Index search instead of a keyword search?

Question 36

Paragraph numbers of the Federal Tax Coordinator should not be cited as support by a tax professional.

Question 37

The Working Papers section of the BNA Tax Portfolios contain the Code, Regulations, and Rulings discussed in the Portfolio.

Question 38

The only support recognized by the IRS and courts are primary sources and not the editorial explanations of a tax service.

Question 39

The 'Terms & Connectors' type of keyword search is useful when a researcher is unsure as to which keywords would be most effective.

Question 40

RIA Checkpoint will automatically use its Thesaurus and look for synonyms when you put in a search query.

Question 41

Why would a practitioner need a commercial, subscription tax service when most tax sources are available on the Internet for free?

Question 42

What is the Freedom of Information Act and what does the IRS do to comply with it?
Essay Questions

Question 43

What is the difference between a Terms & Connectors search and a Natural Language search in RIA Checkpoint? Give an example of each.