Video: What Are Tax Laws?

Video transcript:

Hello, I'm Sarah from TurboTax, with some information about the laws that affect your income taxes. You know all those instructions you've spent countless hours reading at tax time. Well, every word you read is based on a law that Congress or your state legislature has passed.

When dealing with federal tax laws, the Internal Revenue Code is the ultimate authority. Every provision has been voted on by the U.S. Congress at one time or another but often times these code sections are somewhat vague and don't offer much help when preparing your tax return. This is where the Treasury Department comes in. When necessary, this agency publishes regulations that elaborate on individual code sections. If you take a look at one of these, you will see that it provides much more information with real life examples.

Even though there is a lot of tax law out there that you can read, the reality is it's not necessary for you to do so. The IRS does a good job of explaining what you need to know in various types of publications including the instructions to your tax return.  And because tax laws can change each year the IRS updates these publications on a regular basis.

Keep in mind though that these laws only apply to federal taxes. Each state has its own tax laws that its residents must follow. And remember if you use TurboTax to prepare your return you can be sure it's up to date with all the latest tax laws. We'll just ask you simple questions and fill in all the right forms for you.

Let an expert do your taxes for you, start to finish with TurboTax Live Full Service. Or you can get your taxes done right, with experts by your side with TurboTax Live Assisted. File your own taxes with confidence using TurboTax. Just answer simple questions, and we’ll guide you through filing your taxes with confidence. Whichever way you choose, get your maximum refund guaranteed.