Many students of the federal income tax lack ready access to important government documents related thereto, most significantly the various regulations adopted to implement the prior tax statutes. The  purpose of this web page is to make those regulations available.

For those who are unfamiliar with these old tax regulations, a short explanation must be offered regarding the method by which the government in the past published regulations for various prior tax acts. Typically when a new tax law was enacted, Congress granted rule making authority to the Secretary of the Treasury. However before the creation of the Federal Register in 1936, these regulations were simply printed in  booklet form and made available to the public. As examples, Regulations 5 concerned bonded warehouses for the distilling of alcoholic beverages.  Regulations 6 dealt with the tax on fermented liquors. Regulations 8  related to tobacco taxes, and Regulations 9 concerned the tax on  oleomargarine. Regulations 4 concerned the assessment of the 1863 federal income tax, and Regulations 21 concerned the similar income taxes imposed by the 1894 act. Some regulations did not relate specifically to taxpayers, but instead to government employees. Regulations 1 related to tax assessments, and Regulations 3 concerned the assessment of the legacy tax. These and other regulations were simply printed as booklets and distributed to the public. Some sets of regulations were short while others were extremely long, and the voluminous regulations had tables of contents as well as lengthy indexes.  Some of the shorter regulations were published as Treasury Decisions in official  publications like Treasury Decisions Under the Internal Revenue Laws  (“TDIR”). The TDIR series started in 1898 and ended in 1942, and the set contains 36 volumes which most law libraries make available. Links to these works are provided on this page.

The income tax regulations linked here are posted on Google Books. To download a volume of any work provided by Google Books is simple. Clicking any of the below links leads to a page where the linked work is posted. Above the view of the linked work are several icons, and the last icon on the right side of the page looks like a sprocket. Click on the down arrow on the right side of the sprocket and follows the instructions. These same regulations and others are also posted on Jon Roland's Constitution website. 

Below are identified the various tax acts and the regulations promulgated to implement those acts:

1913 – The October 3, 1913 tax act: “An Act To Reduce Tariff Duties And To Provide Revenue For The Government, And For Other Purposes,” 38 Stat.  114, ch. 16. Regulations No. 33, promulgated on January 5, 1914, implemented this act. These regulations were promulgated as Treasury Decision 1944, but they were not published  in the TDIR.

1915-1916: Frank Brushaber challenged the 1913 act in a lawsuit against the Union Pacific Railroad. Here is Brushaber's brief submitted to the Supreme Court, here is the brief of the United States, and here is the transcript of the oral argument of Brushaber's lawyer.  The decision in this case by the Supreme Court in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, 240 U.S. 1 (1916), is important to read.

1916 – The September 8, 1916 tax act: “An Act To Increase The Revenue, And  For Other Purposes,” 39 Stat. 756, ch. 463. Treasury Decision 2367, 18  TDIR 168, simply made the Regulations 33 for the 1913 act applicable to  this act.

1917 – The October 3, 1917 tax act: “An Act to Provide Revenue To Defray War  Expenses, And For Other Purposes,” 40 Stat. 300, ch. 63.  Treasury Decision 2690, 20 TDIR 126, promulgated revised Regulations  No. 33 applicable to this act. 

1918 – The Revenue Act of 1918: “An Act To Provide Revenue, And For Other Purposes,” 40 Stat. 1057, ch. 18.  Treasury Decision 2831, 21 TDIR 170, promulgated Regulations No. 45 for this act.

1921 – The Revenue Act of 1921: “An Act To Reduce And Equalize Taxation, To Provide Revenue, And For Other Purposes,” 42 Stat. 227, ch. 136. Treasury Decision 3295, 24 TDIR  207, promulgated Regulations  No. 62 for this act.

1924 – The Revenue Act of 1924: “An Act To Reduce And Equalize Taxation, To Provide Revenue, And For Other Purposes,” 43 Stat. 253, ch. 234. Treasury Decision 3640, 26 TDIR 745, promulgated Regulations  No. 65 for this act.

1926 – The Revenue Act of 1926: “An Act To Reduce And Equalize Taxation, To Provide Revenue, And For Other Purposes,”  44 Stat. 9, ch. 27. Treasury Decision 3922, 28 TDIR  558, promulgated Regulations  No. 69 for this act.

1928 – The Revenue Act of 1928: “An Act To Reduce And Equalize Taxation, Provide Revenue, And For Other Purposes,” 45 Stat. 791, ch. 852. Regulations  No. 74 were applicable to this act.

1932 – The Revenue Act of 1932: “An Act To Provide Revenue, Equalize Taxation, And For Other Purposes,”  47 Stat. 169, ch. 209.  Regulations  No. 77 were applicable to this act.

1934 – The Revenue Act of 1934: “An Act To Provide Revenue, Equalize Taxation, And For Other Purposes,”  48 Stat. 680, ch. 277.  Regulations  No. 86 were applicable to this act.

1936 – The Revenue Act of 1936: “An Act To Provide Revenue, Equalize Taxation, And For Other Purposes,” 49 Stat. 1648, ch. 690.  Regulations  No. 94 were applicable to this act. These regulations were published in the Federal Register on the dates indicated:

1 Fed. Reg. 1802, Sat. Nov. 14, 1936

1 Fed. Reg. 1867, Tues. Nov. 17, 1936

1 Fed. Reg. 1947, Wed. Nov. 18, 1936

1938 – The Revenue Act of 1938: “An Act To Provide Revenue, Equalize Taxation, And For Other Purposes,” 52 Stat. 447, ch. 289.  Regulations  No. 101 were applicable to this act. These regulations were published in the Federal Register on the dates indicated:

4 Fed. Reg. 616, Fri. Feb. 10, 1939

4 Fed. Reg. 700, Sat. Feb. 11, 1939

4 Fed. Reg. 802, Tues. Feb. 14, 1939

1939 – The 1939 Internal Revenue Code: 53 Stat., part 1. See Senate Report 76-20.  Regulations  No. 103 were applicable to this act. These regulations were published in the Federal Register:

5 Fed. Reg. 348-424, Thurs. Feb. 1, 1940

5 Fed. Reg. 437-560, Fri. Feb. 2, 1940

5 Fed. Reg. 569-588, Sat. Feb. 3, 1940

Regulations  No. 111 for the 1939 Code, a revision of the regulations for the 1939 Code, were adopted in November, 1943:

8 Fed. Reg. 14882-14979, Wed. Nov. 3, 1943

8 Fed. Reg. 15002-15175, Thurs. Nov. 4, 1943

8 Fed. Reg. 15205-15239, Fri. Nov. 5, 1943

Regulations No. 118 (18 Fed. Reg. 5771-6199, Sept. 26, 1953), were also revised regulations for the 1939 Code. 

Regulations Nos. 106 (5 Fed. Reg. 773, Feb. 27, 1940), 107 (5 Fed. Reg. 3704, Sept. 18, 1940), and 116 (9 Fed. Reg. 14573, Dec. 14, 1944) were adopted to govern wage withholding.

Regulations Nos. 90 (1 Fed. Reg. 2, March 14, 1936) and 91 (1 Fed. Reg 1764, Nov. 11, 1936) were adopted for the Social Security Act.

Here is a searchable PDF file of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code.  The Senate Finance Committee Report regarding this Code is available for download.

Treasury Decision 6500 (25 Fed. Reg. 11401, Nov. 26, 1960), compiled the various tax regulations that had been adopted from 1954 through 1960 for the 1954 Internal Revenue Code.

Here is a “Secret Memo” about the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Finally, here is a 1975 Congressional report about activities of the IRS.

Why is it important for students of the tax laws to study the old tax acts? They are interrelated as explained here.

    Post Script:

The following are citations to former federal income tax acts:

1861 act: 12 Stat. 292, 309, ch. 45 (§§ 49-51).  
1862 act: 12 Stat. 432, 473, ch. 119 (§§ 86-114).
1864 act: 13 Stat. 223, 281, ch. 173 (§§ 116-150).
1865 act: 13 Stat. 469, 479, ch. 78 (amended § 116).
1866 act: 14 Stat. 98, 137, ch. 184.
1867 act: 14 Stat. 471, 477, ch. 169.
1870 act: 16 Stat. 256, 257, ch. 255.
1894 act: 28 Stat. 509, ch. 349.

Cases regarding Civil War Income Tax:

Railroad Company v. Jackson, 74 U.S. 262 (1869)

Railroad Co. v. Collector, 100 U. S. 595 (1879)

United States v. Erie Ry., 106 U.S. 327 (1882)