| Vol.
I, No. 4 |
January
Thaw |
Jan.
19th, 2001 |
Links to Business & Finance
On-Line
Small Business Tax Info
The amount of info on the web is enormous, as
anyone who's ever tried to run a search can attest to. And, to put it all
in context, best estimates say that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's
out there is actually making its way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So
each issue, we post a few links in Business & Finance to sites that might
interest you. Sometimes the links will be related to one another
... sometimes we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In
either case, we think we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've
been looking for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link
we provide will be of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the
noise and the bustle. ...
Links to Small Business Tax Info On-Line ...
Tax Day is still months away, but there's no time like
the present to keep from having to rush out to the Post Office
at the last minute, even if, since the 15th falls on a Sunday,
you do get an extra day this year. In that spirit, we're
devoting this month's links to Small Business tax info
straight from the horse's mouth. That's right: The
IRS. ... And there's plenty of it. So,
without further ado ...
-
Small Business Corner - IRS
This 'corner' of the IRS site provides lots of useful
info, not least of which is the joint IRS-SBA produced Small
Business Resource Guide, CD-ROM 2000. {Click
here to see our archived article on this CD.}
In addition to the Resource CD, there's
also helpful info Before Starting Your Business, as well
as info on Operating Your Business, Employment Taxes,
Small Business News, IRS Modernization, and, last but
certainly not least, The Taxpayer Advocate Service.
For those not familiar with it, the Taxpayer Advocate is
your next stop when you've tried in good faith to resolve
a problem with the IRS without success. The Advocate
is there to do just that ... Advocate for your end of
things when the IRS, whether through a lack of timely
response or plain old bureaucratic foul-up, has managed to
raise your blood pressure by a couple of dozen points.
Needless to say, the IRS may be the source of lots of problems, and they
don't even do their own taxes & fiscal management very
well {They flunked their last couple of GAO audits -- big
time.}. But they are the source for tax info.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
.
-
Forms And Publications - IRS
Ok. You got your tax packet in the
mail, but it's missing at least three of the forms you
need to file. Or maybe you just want to review the
limit of the Section 179 deduction.
Whatever the reason, you can either take
a trip to the Post Office or the IRS offices up in
Burlington, or call or write ... or you can go to this
branch of the IRS web site and download anything you
need -- forms, publications, instructions -- you name
it. All of them are available in several formats,
including Adobe Acrobat *.pdf files, as well as *.pcl
and PostScript files. {We use the Acrobat
files. An Acrobat reader is free for the download,
plus you can scale the forms to print on the page, so
printing errors or over-runs are not an issue.}
You simply click on the ones you want, then click Review
to see the list, then download them. ...
Even better, if you know the forms or pubs you're after,
try the "Expert Interface," which is actually
nothing more than an FTP listing of all that's
available. {The file name format which the IRS
uses is very easy to figure out.}
.
Why waste time? The IRS has done something
very useful here. You might as well make use of
it.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
.
-
The IRS Digital Daily Site Tree
This is a fairly comprehensive {though
not exhaustive} listing of what the IRS has available
on their site. ... A sampling of what's
here? Info on ...
Abusive Tax Shelters, Appeals and
Dispute Resolution, Business Taxpayer Info,
Citizen Advocacy Panels (CAPs), Comments on Tax
Regs, Digital Dispatch E-Mail Service, Direct
Deposit of Tax Refunds, Electronic Filing Options,
Employee Plans, Filing Options, Filing Requirements,
Fill-In Forms, Frequently Asked Questions, a Glossary,
Individual Taxpayer Info, Interactive Tax Trails,
Internal Revenue Bulletins, the Internal Revenue
Manual, IRS Procedures, Local and State News, National
News, Questions and Answers, Rate Tables and Schedule,
Refund Options, Regulations, a Tax Calendar,
TAXinteractive {a series of educational &
instructional materials}, the Taxpayer Advocate
Service, Taxpayer Help and Education, Tax Regulations,
Tax Stats, Where to File ... and more.
There a lot here to digest. But if you have the
stomach for it, it's very useful.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
..
US Code Title
26 -- from The Legal Information Institute [LII] at
Cornell
Finally, for the undaunted, there's the entire U.S.
Tax Code -- Title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 USC) --
on-line. ... This is not an IRS
offering. It's part of Cornell's LII efffort, which
includes the complete USC on-line. Thus, it's got
every last detail ... and it's fully searchable.
.
Normally, we try to stick with just three links per
issue. Consider this one a bonus.
Rating: ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
.
*******
*******
If you know of any links that you think are
worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
...
If we agree, we'll be happy to include them
in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks.
*******
*******
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