Wisconsin State Law Library

Tax Law Updates, Featuring Tax Management Portfolios - Amy Crowder

The BNA Tax Management Portfolios set is an extensive collection providing in-depth analysis of tax issues including relevant forms, checklists, and references to source materials. The Portfolios contain over 400 volumes among the three main series: U.S. Income; Estates, Gifts, & Trusts; and Foreign Income. Our library receives monthly updates to individual titles within the series and weekly or bimonthly updates to accompanying newsletters. Regular updates mean these titles stay current with recent changes in the law, including the tax reform legislation enacted at the end of last year.

Here is a snapshot of Tax Management newsletter articles written since December 2017:

Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal - KF 6289.A1 T353 Current

• Martin M. Shenkman and others, Divorce Planning After the 2017 Tax Act 33-37.
  Discusses divorce settlements and tax reform changes to personal exemptions, deductibility of alimony payments, and qualified expenses for 529 plans.
• Howard M. Zaritsky, The Year in Review: An Estate Planner's Perspective on Recent Tax Developments 48-99.

Tax Management Weekly Report - KF 6289.A1 T357 Current

News, case synopsis, technical developments, and analysis of the latest developments in tax law. Including:

• Tax Reform News. Brief articles on recent changes to pass-through deductions, anti-base-erosion measures, intangible assets, net operating losses, funding needs of the IRS, and treatment of certain types of overseas corporate value as intangibles.
• BNA Insights p. 70-72. Britt Haxton and Sandra McGill, Changes to CFC Definition Expands Reach of Section 965 Transition Tax, Creates New Reporting Obligations.
• Isabel Gottlieb, Will Tax Reform Bring Back Patents? 84-85.
• Laura Davison and Lydia O'Neal, When the Corporate Rate Kicks In for Fiscal Year Companies: A Primer, 88-89.

Tax Management Memorandum - KF6289.A1 T355 / Current

• Jeffrey N. Bilsky and William J. Hodges, Tax Reform Impact on Partnerships and Partners 3-10.
• Raj Tanden and Ashley May, How Proposed Tax Reform May Impact Private Equity 11-15.
• R. Arnold Handler, Banks - Adverse Effects Under the 2017 Tax Act 19-29.
• Britt Haxton and Sandra McGill, Changes to CFC Definition Expands Reach of § 965 Transition Tax, Creates Immediate Reporting Obligations 30-32.

Another way to keep up-to-date with tax law is to listen to the Bloomberg Talking Tax, Tax & Accounting Podcast. Hosts sit down with leading tax practitioners who have contributed to the Bloomberg tax management newsletters and cover a variety of tax issues.

The Internal Revenue Service is working towards implementing recent changes to the law and has created a webpage to keep individuals and businesses updated. Their tax reform page provides statements and guidance on home equity loans, withholding rules, Section 965, IRA contributions and distributions, and more.

The BNA Tax Management Portfolios set is a useful resource for studying established law and keeping up with new developments. Tax Management Portfolios are available for checkout from the David T. Prosser Jr. Library collection. Users outside of Madison can borrow portfolios through the mail.

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National Consumer Law Center's Searchable Library - Carol Hassler

The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) publishes twenty consumer law treatises which analyze the law and provide sample pleadings on a variety of consumer topics. This consumer law collection focuses on four major areas: debtor rights, credit and banking, consumer litigation, and deception and warranties. The Library subscribes to the entire collection digitally and visitors can search all twenty titles easily from a library computer.

Searching the NCLC Digital Library for information on car warranties, for example, leads to multiple books, including Automobile fraud, Consumer warranty law, and Unfair and deceptive acts and practices. The site's search supports phrase searches, term exclusion, proximity searches, and wildcard characters, allowing for more precisely tailored results. Their concise search tips guide is a handy resource for getting the most out of the website.

It's easy to find sample forms. The website features a pleadings search with extensive categories which can be used to filter results so you only see what you need. For example, limit results to "motions to dismiss" and "settlements", narrow your topic using a detailed subject index, and filter by case type: general consumer lawsuits, class actions, and bankruptcy. While you can enter extra search terms into the search box, you can also just use the provided categories to browse what's available.

Search the entire National Consumer Law Center collection from our library computers, or check out the books from the David T. Prosser Jr. Library collection. Users outside of Madison can borrow these books through the mail.

Whether you're researching a consumer issue or preparing a case, the National Consumer Law Center collection is a great place to start. If you'd like to learn more about using the NCLC Digital Library, watch for our March 6th blog post with advanced search examples. That post is part of a series of articles for National Consumer Protection Week - March 4-10. We will be highlighting consumer resources in our collection and online through daily posts on our blog, Library Highlights.

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New Books - Kari Zelinka

Featured Title! Forces of Change: Events That Led to the Development of the Green Bay Fire Department 1836-1895, by David Siegel
Call Number: TH 905 G744 S54 2016

David Siegel is a firefighter/paramedic with the Green Bay Metro Fire Department. In this book, he tells the story of how this fire department originated. Siegel spent three years researching this book, which at one point brought him to the State Law Library to look at an 1882 map that is housed in our briefs collection. Over 200 fascinating photographs and maps enrich this story. Whether you are a history buff, interested in Northeastern Wisconsin, or curious about the formation of public services, this book will not disappoint.

New Title! Indian Child Welfare Act Judicial Benchbook, by Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Call Number: KF 8210 C45 I52 2017

Several decades of laws and practice inform this new benchbook. In 1978, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to combat the removal of Indian children from their families. In 2003, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) published checklists to support judges and judicial officers in carrying out ICWA. Data gathered in 2015 indicated that American Indian and Alaskan Native were overrepresented in foster care at nearly 2.7 times their rate in the general population. The Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs enacted federal regulations governing ICWA in 2016, which provided additional definitions, timelines, and required judicial findings that must be made on the records to create more consistency in ICWA implementation. This ICWA Judicial Benchbook enhances the 2003 NCJFCJ checklists and covers all stages of the court process.

Chapters include:

• Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) basics
• Preliminary protective hearing
• Adjudication hearing
• Disposition hearing
• Review hearing
• Permanency planning hearing
• Termination of parental rights
• Adoption hearing

See our latest New Titles list for a list of new books and other resources.

For assistance in accessing these or other resources, please contact our Reference Desk.

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Tech Tip - Heidi Yelk

Onelook.com - A dictionary gateway

Onelook.com is a dictionary website that has stood the test of time. It has been around for over 20 years and just "one look" will show you why. Its clean interface serves as gateway to several dozen free online dictionaries. Type a word and get a list of direct links to that word's definition.

In addition to its dictionary look up service, Onelook includes a "reverse dictionary". Describe the word you're looking for and the reverse dictionary returns suggestions of the word that may be on the tip of your tongue but escaping your memory, such as that thing on the end of a shoelace.

Onelook can also be customized to your liking and includes fun extras, such as a word of the day and a rhyming tool.

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Library News - Carol Hassler

Save the date

Celebrate National Library Week with us! Mark our April 10th open house on your calendars now. We'll offer refreshments and activities from 1-3 p.m. Attend free CLE classes on using Lexis Advance and the Wisconsin Court System website; register on our classes page. Take a guided art tour during the week and explore the history behind art displayed throughout the David T. Prosser Library. Watch Library Highlights and our April newsletter for more details. We look forward to seeing you!

Spring classes

Two Westlaw classes are open for registration this spring. Learn about new features in Westlaw on Tuesday, March 20 at noon. For those needing to learn the basics, register for Introduction to Westlaw on Tuesday, April 17 at noon. Both of these hands-on classes are offered in the David T. Prosser Jr. Library training room. Learn more about our upcoming classes and register on our Classes page.

Free iSchool Webinar

Library users ask librarians for help finding information about the legal system. Jaime Healy-Plotkin, reference librarian at the Wisconsin State Law Library, will offer a free webinar with the University of Wisconsin's iSchool on providing legal reference services to users. Register online for Legal Reference Services: Helping Access to Justice, offered on April 3 at noon.

Presentation to UW Lawyering Skills students

Last month State Law Librarian, Julie Tessmer, spoke with UW Law School students enrolled in the Lawyering Skills course. Julie's presentation focused on the many services the State Law Library can provide for soon-to-be attorneys such as borrowing books by mail, using the library after hours, and ordering copies. Our free in-house access to legal databases - including Westlaw, Lexis Advance, HeinOnline, and Index to Legal Periodicals - was of high interest. We look forward to the Class of 2018's graduation!

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March Snapshot

Nothing's better on a warm, sunny day than a quick run by the lake over lunch. Pictured: downtown Madison, Monona Terrace, and cracking ice on Lake Monona.
Photo by Carol Hassler

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