| Vol.
I, No. 5 | Cabin
Fever / Town Meeting | Feb.
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 ...
{continuing, with additions}
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
...
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]
. ScheduleC.com
This
one is actually another publication of ours. ... We won't rate
it. But we will tell you that, if you have questions about filing a
Schedule C ... or the Business Use of Your Home ... or where to find the
best links to info & tax resources for the truly small business, then
ScheduleC.com is worth a visit. ... In fact, our feature on the tax
audits & the calculators first appeared here.
Rating:
------------
.
*******
******* 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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