Top Tax Resources on the Web for Preparing your 2001 Tax Return

By Tiffany Bass Bukow, Founder of MsMoney.com

April 15th is looming in the distance, which means you can't avoid the inevitable task much longer. Maybe you just need a little inspiration. Keep in mind, you might actually be due a refund this year. Wouldn't it be great to have that little windfall burning a hole in your pocket today instead of tomorrow?

Even if you have to pay additional money, the bevy of resources on the Web are making it much easier for you to part with your cash. These days, it only takes a few clicks on the Internet and your return will be digitally sailing into Uncle Sam's harbor.

A great way to keep your spirits up for the whole process is to start off with some money funnies to improve your mood. You can find some tax humor at TaxMama, http://taxmama.com/moneyfunnies, which has taken the dreaded topic of taxes and turned it into fun! While saving people amazing sums of money on their taxes, she's also created an identity unique in the tax industry: a tax company that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.

The heart of TaxMama's site is the weekly newsletter, Ask TaxMama. It addresses questions from real people, just like you. The site includes articles, http://taxmama.com/Articles, tax FAQs, http://www.taxmama.com/faq/faq2.html, and updated news from the IRS http://taxmama.com/IRSnews/

Don't leave without reading the article to find out if you are good candidate to file your own taxes online. http://taxmama.com/Articles/FilingOnline.html
Once you are ready to save some time and money filing online, click through to some of the recommendations below.

ONLINE FILING SITES

www.TaxBrain.com
TaxBrain.com has been involved with the tax industry for over 10 years. Their parent company set up the e-file system for the California Franchise Tax Board. They have a toll free support number and their rates are quite reasonable. Only $4.95 for a federal e-file fee. They can even help you get your refund in as little as 3 days.

http://www.hrblock.com/taxes/doing_my_taxes/products/otp.html

http://www.turbotax.intuit.com/welcome/perm/qcome/welcome.htm

Certainly there are general purpose sites for filing online, but there are also niche sites which add an interesting twist:
http://www.estudenttax.com/

Perhaps you aren't quite ready to hit the send button because you are still trying to grapple with the new tax laws and scrape a few more dollars off your tax bill. If that is the case, then stop by these sites to begin your research.

INFORMATION SITES

http://www.irs.gov
The IRS Web site continued to be popular. The site chalked up more than 1.5 billion hits from January through April 16 in 2001, a 57 percent increase from the previous year. IRS said that the number of forms and documents downloaded topped 103 million through February 2001, double the number downloaded over the same period the previous year.

http://quicken.com/taxes
Whether you have questions about your retirement fund or simply want to brush up on the basics, Quicken, has information and tools to help you manage your taxes and save money. Their topics include:

New Tax Laws
Tax Prep Info and the Basics
Tax Planning and Strategies
Deductions
Investments
Retirement
Home and Family/Education
Small Business

http://www.fool.com/taxes/taxcenter/taxcenter.htm
They provide a weekly tax article for your perusal, just in case you wanted to think about taxes 52 weeks a year instead of just one. (What a FOOLish thought that could be for some of us.) Here is a sample of their easy-to-use categories:

Investor Tax Issues
Marriage and Family
Education Tax Issues
Home & Home Office
Itemized Deductions
Retirement Tax Issues

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/fx/promotions/tax-facts.html
Who would have thought you would go to Amazon for tax advice? Of course, you can buy any one of the zillions of books on taxes at their site, but that isn't all that they offer. For truly up-to-the-minute information you can link out to some of Amazon's recommended income tax sites. These sites will answer your questions about:

charitable deductions,
what qualifies as income,
how to avoid an audit, and much more

If you like what you find, you can say thanks and send a few dollars to the website owner via the new Amazon Paybox System. What an excellent compensation alternative to advertising. Without these sites, you would be sending a lot more than that to Uncle Sam!

Tiffany Bass Bukow
CEO & Founder
MsMoney.com

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