| Vol.
I, No. 6 | Sugaring
/ Spring Equinox | Mar.
16th, 2001 |
Business
& Finance
Links to Business & Finance On-Line . Links
to Business & Finance On-Line
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. ... Small
Business Tax Info {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:
------------
. Additional
Resources ...
.
*******
******* 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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