• We are most happy to make available to you copies of the Basic Income Tax Law text and the Advanced Income Tax Law

text, which you requested of the Commissioner in your letter to him dated June 25, 19-.

• We were glad to get the information you sent in your letter of December 3.

Thank you for your letter of May 19. OR The pamphlets you inquired about in your letter of May 19 will be mailed on June 25.

As you requested in your memorandum of May 16, we have checked on the progress being made on . . .

Set the tone

This direct approach in the first paragraph does more than shorten your memo or letter or lay the foundation for what follows. The opening paragraph establishes the tone. Don't rely on the closing paragraph to set the tone; that's too late. Your opening paragraph is the place in which to sound the note for the tone of your communication.

Let the reader know that a person (not a government agency) has read his letter and that a person (not a government agency) is replying to him. Mention your reader or refer to his problem. Use "you" more often than you use “I," "we," or "this office." You need not (in fact, should not) go the extreme of being chummy or overly solicitous; you should, however, write "person-to-person" and not "station-to-station."

Not: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of June 5 in which you asked whether or not this agency was in a position to supply ten copies of the booklet "Your Federal Income Tax."

But: Enclosed are the 10 copies of Your Federal Income Tax which you requested on June 5.

Look for the silver lining

The tone of your letter or memo is likely to be better if you can approach the subject positively instead of negatively. Sometimes we need to rearrange only a few words to turn a negative approach into a positive one: sometimes our thinking, too, needs rearranging. The negative connotations of some words can spread their tone to entire phrases—perhaps to the entire letter. If you have good news for your reader, let him know right away:

"You should receive your income tax refund within the next four weeks."

If you cannot give him all the information or materials he wants, tell him first what you can do.

Not: I am sorry to tell you that we cannot send you the 500 copies of Training No. 1000 which you requested. We will be unable to fill any requisitions until we receive reprints now on order. We mailed you today the 250 copies of Training No. 500 which you also requested.

But: Today we mailed you the 250 copies of Training No. 500 which you requested. As soon as we receive the reprints now on order for Training No. 1000, we shall send you 500 copies. You should have them within the next two weeks. Not: It is not our policy to keep the office open evenings except on Monday.

But: Every Monday evening is set aside to help those taxpayers who need advice.

Don't waste time

Yes, we expect an opening paragraph to do a great deal. Furthermore, a good opening paragraph must do all these things briefly-in as few words as possible.

Long paragraphs discourage reading. And a long paragraph at the very beginning cuts in half its chances of being read. Save these longer units for your later discussions of details. Usually, you need not fill the opening part of your written communication by restating all the facts in the document you are answering: if someone asks you a question during a conversation, you rarely find it necessary to repeat the question before you answer it.

There are exceptions, of course. Sometimes, especially in determination and in ruling letters, we must repeat enough of the incoming letter to make unmistakably clear the facts on which we base our reply. Even in these letters, however, our opening paragraph should contain an "abstract" of this information, not a direct quote of everything the taxpayer said in his letter.

Notice the length of these opening paragraphs. Do they identify the subject-but not too obviously? Do they "get right into" the writing, contributing something to the whole? Will the tone add or detract to the image of the Service?

I am pleased at your reactions to our distribution of this material.

At the direction of Mr. Doe, Assistant Director, I am referring the attached file to you for comment. The question at issue is . . .

The circular about which you asked in your letter of May 1 is ready for release.

Following is a checklist for opening paragraphs. Measure some of your beginnings in things you have written against this list. How effective are your opening paragraphs?

Checklist for the Opening Paragraph

The DOs and DON'Ts of getting off to a good start

DO...

1. Plan your opening paragraph when you plan the body of your letter, memo, or report.

2. Set the tone.

a. Take the positive or affirmative approach (whenever possible) rather than the negative.

b. Use "you" more often than "I," "we," "this office."

c. Mention your reader or refer specifically to his problem. 3. Say something worthwhile about the subject of your communication.

4. Subordinate the reference to the date of the incoming letter or
memorandum by putting it in a phrase or a subordinate clause.
5. Write naturally and simply, avoiding stereotyped and over-
formal expressions.

6. Make the opening paragraph clear, concise, and natural.
7. Keep the opening paragraph as short as possible.

DON'T...

1. Use the negative approach when a rearrangement of words will make the approach positive.

2. Devote the entire paragraph to a "rehashing" of the incoming document.

3. Overburden the reader with too much detail in the first paragraph, especially detail about the organizational structure of the agency.

4. Use such openings as "Reference is made to your letter" and "Receipt is acknowledged of your letter."

5. Use participial expressions to excess-"Referring to your letter of the 26th..." or "Confirming your telegram of today's date..." Check to be sure that the participles don't dangle.

6. Use a first paragraph consisting of a nonstop sentence.

Paragraph Development

Once we have decided what pattern to use in arranging our material, we are faced with the problem of writing the individual paragraphs that make up the pattern. How do we go about developing a paragraph?

Each paragraph is a problem in organization. It must be logically arranged; it must fit in with what precedes and what follows it; and it must contribute something to move the writing forward.

The backbone of any paragraph is the topic sentence a statement of what the paragraph is about. Making your first sentence in each paragraph the topic sentence will help you, the writer, stick to the subject; it will also help your reader get a quick outline of the communication without reading every word. There is no rule, however, that says the topic sentence must come at the first of the paragraph; it can as well be in the middle or at the end.

The topic sentence in the following paragraphs is underlined:

Paragraph No. 1

Any dealer who is primarily a wholesaler must enter in his record of receipts all the specified information about all distilled spirits physically received at his premises. Spirits transferred to his retail department must be posted to the record of dispositions in accordance with Section 194.231. Each record of disposition must be supported by corresponding delivery receipts fully describing the spirits and signed by the consignee or his agent, or by a copy of a bill of lading showing delivery to a common carrier.

Paragraph No. 2

When books and records are lost or destroyed, your Federal income tax return should be prepared from the best available information. You may use duplicates of receipts, invoices, bank statements, and other creditable evidence to establish your income and expenses, and you should be prepared to show that the return is substantially correct under the circumstances.

Paragraph No. 3

Do you know of any large industrial organization that has not developed a training program? The success of X Motors, Y Chemicals, Z Machines-to name a few-depends upon the abilities of men and women in a dozen professions. You may be sure that although these employees are well qualified in their particular jobs, their education is not permitted to stand still. Training Magazine keeps abreast of technical advances.

Paragraph No. 4

The basic problem in his income tax case was to determine the amount, if any, he could deduct as the result of the total destruction of a house by fire. Mr. Taxpayer's contention is that the income tax deduction for the loss should be based upon its fair market value at the time of the fire. On the other hand, the Internal Revenue Service believes that the amount of the loss could not exceed the amount Mr. Taxpayer paid for the house, less the amount he received from the insurance company. As stated in our earlier letter, this position was based on the provisions of sections 23(e), 23(i), and 113(b) of the IRC which specifically controls the amount that may be allowed as a deduction for a loss of this kind.

Every sentence in the paragraph must work toward developing the thought expressed in the topic sentence. Don't expect your reader to buy what you say in a topic sentence without some specifics to back it up.

You may develop your paragraph by examples, as No. 2 and No. 3 do. You may define or explain further what your topic sentence means. The writer of No. 1 explains "all the specified information” and “distilled spirits." You may enlarge on the subject of your topic sentence by comparing it to or contrasting it with something else, as the writer of No. 4 did.

Another key to paragraph development is one of the standards we have mentioned earlier-completeness. Give your reader enough information in the paragraph to make him feel that you have convincingly supported the thesis of your topic statement.

Perhaps the paragraph you are writing falls naturally into a chronological pattern. This often happens in sketching the background of a case or a law, or in writing narrative reports. The development of your paragraph is planned for you here; begin at the beginning and follow the story in a straight line to the end. Doing this may take careful planning, for there are always secondary issues that tempt us to digress and expound on them at the expense of the main theme.