I didnt know this, but I believe it. Trainies get trained by each other. Tax examiners and clerks never see a handbook. I always got poor trainers it seemed. You can only be as good as your trainer is able to communicate her knowledge. I would have been a better Tax examiner if I could have seen a handbook I do better reading one my own. It gives me the hook to understand why. I need the why. I quit after three years. They would have kept me and I would have been a trainer with minimal knowledge. That was how I knew it was a government clandestine joke. How do you get trained and never lay your eyes on a manual? Disclaimer: This was many (20) years or so ago. So maybe it's changed. I doubt it. I reached a level six, and was on a ladder to a ten which meant I didnt have to earn it. So how does someone get to a six even without viewing a handbook?