This page provides a How-to for downloading your own copy of the official tax regulations (26 CFR) from the Government Printing Office, then searching them with your own computer. If you just want to search immediately without having to compile a copy, use these... Regulations - eCFR. (Examine this to get started) Statutes - See a list of search engines here, According to Law.

Download U.S. tax regulations

The Government Printing Office does not make downloading a complete digital copy of the regulations easy. If you prefer to skip the laborious task of compiling your copy, you can also get a copy with the repair work done for you. See Tax Regs 1913-2004.

Note: This simple search technique can be applied to all Titles of Law, Regulations, or any large volume of text.

Common tools that you can use to search Titles

• Computer - we used Windows 2000 OS - XP and Vista are fine. Linux is the best option, but only Windows is explained here.
• High Speed Internet connection - recommended.
• HTTrack Website Copier - free Open Source offline browser for Linux and Windows.
• WinMerge - free Open Source tool required on some searches for file and directory comparison. Other similar tools are fine.
• Adobe Acrobat - tool used to search PDF files. (Optional tool)
• eCFR - a GPO website that has an excellent regulation search tool.
• Code search engines - third-party or government engines. See our According to Law link.

Other search tools are available such as search engine software for your PC. We recommend only using Open Source software. You can try: mnoGoSearch or DataparkSearch. Search Google or Clusty for others.

For now, stick with the following method, which shows the required tasks and results using basic fundamentals of text data mining. Later, you can try other search tools.

We highly recommend beginning in your local law library with a tour from the reference librarian.

[The CFR is downloaded 'as is' (approx. 66MB for TEXT - [zip file 20MB], or 26~31MB for PDF) from the US Government Printing Office (GPO) Website. Size varies slightly each year. The single PDF file is the easiest to search, but a more powerful search can be made using TEXT version. MS Windows will work fine, but Linux has more search capabilities.]

USC (statutes):

[Note: This section has been moved to According to Law and Who is Taxed.]

To search the Text files or PDF files, simply use EDIT > FIND on the menu, or CTRL + F. Always begin your searches with the cursor placed at the beginning of the file (use CTRL + HOME, and even click into the beginning of the text to ensure your search will start at the beginning of the page).

CFR (regulations):

How to Search TEXT version

Download TEXT copy of US Income Tax Regulations. Why this one? Because it is compressed to 20MB and downloads faster, and all the broken links and missing files from the GPO original version are fixed - a big time saver. (Since you will eventually want to compare our copy to the original, instructions to compile your own copy from the GPO are provided below. You can also compare accuracy with the eCFR. Note, eCFR will refer to search results as 'matches'.) Open folder where you downloaded, then open Main Folder and click Search. Search for any subject. Use one or more terms. Example: "taxable" or "taxable income". See image below.

Reforming or re-hiding? "Fear can only prevail when victims are ignorant of the facts." -- Thomas Jefferson

How to Compile your own copy:

We used a free tool called WinHTTrack Website Copier to download all of Title 26 to the local computer. Searching for a particular term is done in the folder containing Title 26. In general, here is how to setup then search...

1. Download and install the tool WinHTTrack Website Copier (open source & free). Be sure to get WinHTTrack for Windows. They also provide a Linux version. Learn to use on a small (a few pages) website. Many similar tools are available to download websites, find and choose your favorite. Practice by downloading this website. Be sure you begin downloading process on the page that you would like for the "home" page. For this website, that would be http://whatistaxed.com/index.htm Practice on a small size website, before you accidentally fill up your entire hard drive with every Title of the statutes & regulations.



2. Using a "high speed" internet connection, and WinHTTrack Website Copier, download the latest CFR and USC from the GPO website. (WinHTTrack has an option setting for the web addresses that it must search. Pay attention to the web addresses, in case any of the downloaded pages are missing. Also find and chose the option to ignore robots.txt file.) From the addresses below, choose Title 26 and year desired. The resulting CFR webpage will have Sections 1 thru End, and Parts 2 thru End. Beginning here will produce an approx. 346MB CFR download. The size of the download can be decreased to 66MB by setting WinHTTrack to exclude all PDF files. Search WinHTTrack Help for more specific guidance. (This is easier than it sounds, don't get discouraged)
   
   http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
   or http://uscode.house.gov/download/download.shtml
   
   http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
   
   
   Allow up to 4 - 8 hours, or more, for complete download, ~346MB of PDF and TEXT on High Speed internet connection, depending on your speed. Grabbing the TEXT files only goes much faster. Unknown time for dialup connection. The HTTrack Website Copier has an excellent resume download function, so it can be downloaded in multiple sessions, but we don't recommend it, because previous files will be recopied & renamed.

   If you must use a dialup connection, download one of our copies of tax regulations. PDF ~26.4MB, TEXT ~20.1MB. The PDF contains Part 1-Income Taxes. The TEXT file contains all Parts of Title 26.
   
   After the download is complete check for missing files/ broken links. This is required only if compiling your own copy from the GPO. (See http://whatistaxed.servehttp.com for more info.) We recommend setting the permissions of the folder where you put your copy to read only to avoid unintentional changes. How? Right-click on the folder > Properties > check Read-only. This is to prevent accidentally deleting any of regulations while performing searches. If you choose not to set these permissions, check your Recycle Bin often for any files from the CFR directory which may need to be restored. This will be evident when a familiar term is not repeating the previous results. * Do not restore any files from your "Compare" folders (discussed in #4 below). Also, make a backup copy of your original because it's easy to spoil the search copy.





3. CFR : How to Search with Computer. This was done with Windows 2000. Should be similar with 95, 98, ME, XP & Vista.

   A. Open the folder where you saved copy of CFR.
   B. Click on Search.
   C. Put search term into "Containing Text:" search box shown below.
   D. Click Search Now button, but be certain the correct folder is displayed in "Look in:"
   E. Open result(s) in web browser.
   F. In web browser, use Edit > Find, or Ctrl+F to search for terms.

   
   
   
   For example, if we search for "how to determine taxable income", search results will show 1 file(s) found in the lower left of window.
   
   Search for:
   
   "excluded income"
   "eliminated income"
   "eliminated items"
   
   Be aware that since you are searching through HTML files, a line break can disrupt attempts to search for terms spread over 2 lines of text. For example, if "determine" is at the end of a line, and "taxable" begins on the next line, the full string of text will not be found in Windows folder search. So, in order to verify any particular result, each keyword must be independently searched, then merged.





4. Merging example using "how to determine taxable income":

   First, we find the individual results...
   
   
   • "determine": (2748 file(s) found)
   • "taxable income": (817 file(s) found)
   • "how to": (38 file(s) found)

   Then we merge results, effectively making a boolean search of the regulations. See No. 6 below for how to merge. The order of the terms used is not critical, the final result is the same.
   
   *Note: The eCFR permits a three term boolean search, however you can use unlimited terms in your boolean searches using your computer and a directory comparison tool, such as WinMerge. If all this seems like a pain in the neck (and it is, to figure out), just use the eCFR for searching regulations, and GPO Access for searching the statutes. The best part about these government websites is that you are getting the results straight from the horses mouth (their own search engines).

   (These numbers are from year 2004 regulations. Numbers change slightly every year due to new text added to each new edition, or due to editing changes, by the GPO. Again, for example, "taxable income" may no longer show up in the basic search if "taxable" is the last word on a line and "income" is on the next line. Compare your results with a PDF version of 26 CFR, and with the eCFR to avoid this effect.)
   
   "taxable income" and "determine": (614 object(s))
   "taxable income" and "determine" and "how to": (7 object(s))

   Can you believe it? Only seven files have all the terms leaving little room for uncertainty.
   
   Since some files could still be missing from these results, double check by altering the combined terms, e.g. using "determine taxable" instead of "taxable income". Soon all files are found.




5. Objects

   From these 7 files/objects, we then search each one individually for "how to determine taxable income", or use only one of the keywords, such as "taxable" or "how to". To do so, open the file in your web browser, then use CTRL + F, or the Edit menu, to find text. All this has been done to confirm that the text string "how to determine taxable income", or anything like it only occurs once, or is in one regulation.

   Taxes for Dummies "The United States has a system of taxation by confession". -- Supreme Court Justice Jackson, 345 U.S. 22, Kahriger




6. How to Merge:
   When WinMerge is required to refine CFR searches - the basic instructions for use of this tool are:
   1. Copy the contents of one of your "partial term" searches from the Search folder to a folder you create, maybe somewhere on your 'desktop', called Compare1. For example: "how to " (notice space before the end quote)
   2. Copy the contents of another "partial term" search, like "taxable income", into a second folder called Compare2.
   3. Start WinMerge and compare the 2 folders (directories).
   4. Click on the "Comparison Result" column top box. This will sort the results. Be sure to keep all "Identical" results.
   5. With the "Identical" results now sorted to the top of the list, scroll down till you see the others. Highlight all the others (all non-identical results) by selecting the first non-identical result, then using Shift+End, then right-click and delete both parts which mention 'delete'. It must be done twice, to delete both sets of 'deletes'.

   You are now left with only the files containing identical results, both "partial terms" (e.g. all files containing the terms "how to " and "taxable income") in both Compare1 and Compare2 folders. Open the Compare1 folder to see the results.
   
   Open the results with your internet browser to read each. If you need to further refine your search, for example, in order to find all files that also include "apply", then delete only the contents of Compare2 folder and repeat the whole process from step 2. Search for "apply", and then copy the results to the Compare2 folder. Re-compare both folder 1 and 2 using WinMerge, and delete all non-identical results. In the end you will have only the files with all 3 search terms; "how to ", "taxable income", and "apply".
   
   You can keep on refining searches repeatedly for more terms, until finally it is possible you may only have 1 remaining file with all the desired terms. This search method is how you can prove exclusive search term results.

   For example:
   "specific","guidance","rules","taxable","income","apply","how to","taxable income" (1 file(s) found): Sec. 861

   When you have become proficient, you can create a 3rd folder or more. Only two folders are required.
   
   See Search Examples for hints to searching.
   

If you use a computer with Linux, then the entire searching process is greatly simplified. Powerful search tools are already available within a Linux operating system. Learn how to use them by searching the Internet for tutorials.

PDF version - 26 CFR:

How to Download and Search a PDF version: Download PDF file from http://whatistaxed.com/26CFR.htm Download Adobe Reader (or Acrobat) if needed from Adobe.com > Open PDF file > Click Search > enter search term(s) > Click Search

Here are some terms you can search for: Search Results, Additional Results, Search Examples

If you want to compile your own PDF copy
Since you shouldn't trust just anyone on the Internet, you can compile your own copy. The individual volumes (and parts of volumes) can be obtained in PDF files from the GPO website, and compiled using the following method:

1. Select desired year of Title 26 CFR .
   
2. Once inside the particular year, under "Search Title" column, remove checkmark from Title 26 Internal Revenue.
3. Place a checkmark under the desired "Search Volume" column (get all of Part 1 [volumes 1-13 for 2003/2004]).
4. In Search Terms box, type: part 1 income taxes
5. Click Submit
6. Usually choose the 3rd result, but look for result with [a] the largest size, and [b] the table of contents.
7. Examine Volume to see if it's complete.
8. Download missing sections if needed until the particular volume is complete. Do it for all volumes.
9. (Optional) If available, use Adobe Acrobat (the writer version) to combine files into one large PDF file.

Or, just get the CFR in PDF files here: http://whatistaxed.com/26CFR.htm

If you can provide a regulation or statute, which indicates the search results, analysis, or findings are not accurate ... send it us.