Web sites give insight into tax preparation
By Bill Wolfe
Louisville Courier-Journal
As the new year approaches, it's time to focus on taxes — last-minute steps you can take to save on your 2001 bill and measures that can smooth the way for the 2002 filing.
If you have Internet access, Web sites stand ready with free help and advice.
CNN/Money, which launched in October at www.money.com, has added a Tax Center that will feature tax tips for individuals, investors and small-business owners.
"The whole point of CNN/Money is to take very complicated topics and make them easier for the lay person to understand," said Alexander Haris, deputy managing editor for the site. "It just seemed like a logical extension to cover taxes."
The center began with a year-end tax guide, featuring stories on deductions and credits for homeowners, college savers and estate planners and money-saving tax strategies.
There's also "a message board where we invite tax professionals to sit in and answer questions one on one," Haris said.
During the next few weeks, the site will add such features as a tax countdown calendar, a withholding calculator and refund estimator, as well as links to downloadable tax forms and instructions.
Early next year, the site will add a tax tip of the day and a question-and-answer column that will let readers send questions to a team of independent tax professionals.
The CNN/Money site is part of a revolution in tax help that the Internet has ushered in, Haris said.
"A few years ago, if you were stuck there in your living room trying to put your taxes together, you had nowhere to go," he said. "Now you can log onto the Internet and get help."
Other sites may bombard readers with more tax information, Haris said, but "I guess we take a different approach. I'm not going to promise that our tax center is going to be fun. I think it will be a little bit easier to use."
But CNN/Money has plenty of company on the Web. At www.taxplanet.com, you'll find an assortment of tax strategies to trim your bill, along with guides for investment, deductions and credit, real estate, retirement savings and more. There's also news on pending tax legislation, and tips such as the guide to federal tax laws and corporate gift giving to clients.
Gary Klott, a syndicated tax columnist, edits the Web site.
Quicken, the company that makes the popular TurboTax tax preparation software, can lend a hand at www.quicken.com/taxes. While much of the site is geared toward selling Quicken products, it also boasts handy features, such as a guide to year-end tax moves and tips on topics such as "assigning a value to donated goods."
Its Taxes Step-by-Step section, for example, provides information on getting organized, maximizing deductions, avoiding audits, filing electronically and knowing the new tax laws.
Tax Cut, a rival software product, also boasts a tax-advice site, www.taxcut.com, that offers many similar features, including sections on tax laws, tips and planning and a glossary of tax terms.
The accounting firm Deloitte & Touche offers a helpful report at www.us.deloitte.com. Click on Publications and choose Personal Tax Planning 2001.
The report includes an overview of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and strategies to consider for the remainder of the year and into 2002.
