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Website
of the Month: Tax Guide for Investors
By
Susan B. Anders
JANUARY 2007 - Fairmark
Press, Inc.’s Tax Guide for Investors website, www.fairmark.com,
provides access to a variety of free resources, as well
as for-purchase books by tax attorney Kaye A. Thomas. Tax
Guide offers several online topical guides, quick access
to many IRS forms and publications, a free message board,
tax tips, and news items. While some resources are obviously
designed for taxpayers, many will be helpful to tax preparers
and students. The topical coverage is comprehensive, consistent,
and generally well organized.
The
website is well structured, with uniform appearance and
navigation throughout. The homepage is presented in a newsletter
format with hyperlinks to HTML-format articles grouped under
topic headings, such as “Legislation,” “Tax
Planning,” “That’s Interesting,”
and “More Tax News.” There are also small links
to the current “News Archive,” an older-news
archive, and one of the site’s most important resources,
the detailed online guides. Materials are easy to locate,
as the main pages are generally organized in an index format,
with hyperlinks to subsidiary pages. The main pages group
topics in a similar format, and include sections for “Getting
Started” and “Frequently Asked Questions.”
The
homepage and all main and subsidiary pages provide a horizontal
menu at the top of each page featuring “Home,”
“Our Books,” “Tax Help Center,”
“Roth IRAs,” “Options,” “Capital
Gains,” “Kids/College,” and “Message
Board.” The homepage presents a left-side mini-index
for “Our Books,” “Site Map,” “Message
Board,” “Reference Room,” and “IRS
Forms.” The mini-indexes on the main and subsidiary
pages cover “Tax Help Center,” “Message
Board,” “About Us,” and “Contact
Us.” The site map is a great tool for first-time users;
the site’s offerings are grouped under “Free
Online Guides,” “Books from Fairmark,”
“Free Services,” and “Fairmark Info.”
Online
Tax Guides
Fairmark
offers free online tax guides on several investment-related
subjects, including Roth IRAs, employee stock options, capital
gains, and college planning. These can be accessed from
several locations. A guide to mutual funds is available
on the “Capital Gains” main page. Some of the
smaller guides, which cover topics such as estimated tax,
alternative minimum tax, Social Security benefits, trader
taxation, and custodial accounts for minors, are most easily
located through the “Tax Help Center” or the
site map.
Each
guide provides an index page and an introductory overview.
The organization is consistent across all of the guides,
increasing their user-friendliness. These guides are a terrific
resource for classroom use, as well as for practitioners
who may not have a strong background in a particular area
or may be looking for plain-English explanations for various
topics.
Other
Resources
The
latest versions of many IRS forms, instructions, and publications
are available in PDF format via the “Tax Help Center.”
Forms and publications can be accessed via drop-down menus
or by a helpful topical index. This is a great resource
for students and professionals who are not expert in a particular
area. The “Reference Room” can be accessed by
a hyperlink on the homepage or in the “Tax Help Center.”
It provides a table of key tax numbers, such as personal
exemptions, standard deductions, and standard mileage rates
for 2005 through 2007. Individual-tax rate schedules for
2007 are also available, along with IRA and 401(k) limits
for 2005 through 2007.
Accessing
the site’s message board does not require registration,
although registration is necessary to post questions or
answers. The Fairmark Forum is organized into four forums:
capital gains and losses, retirement savings and benefits,
other tax questions, and nontax questions and comments.
Summaries
of recent tax legislation are available in various locations
on the site, including the news archives. A summary of key
provisions of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation
Act can be found via a hyperlink on the homepage. The summary
provides links to topic-related resources within the website.
Susan
B. Anders, PhD, CPA, is an associate professor of
accounting at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure,
N.Y.
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