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Every week, RealtorMag Online's Web review editor surfs the Internet to find sites essential to your business and off-hours lives.
Web Review:
Index
| | Tax tips
That Taxing Time of Year
Find tax information from a trusted financial advisor.
BY CHRIS LEPORINI
If you’re usual tax strategy is to spend the last week before April 15 pawing through a shoebox of business receipts, this might be a good year to think about starting a little earlier on your tax return. You’ll thank yourself in April, and you’ll have more time to help new clients as the spring selling season gets underway. H&R Block’s online site provides a good place to start chipping away at your tax responsibilities.
Surprise…the site strongly encourages you to hire a tax professional. H&R Block still offers enough free tips and goodies to make a visit worthwhile, even if you plan on doing your own return. At the most basic level, its a good source for downloading federal tax forms and tracking down state tax information. The site provides direct links to both, making it a one-stop resource to round up necessary paperwork you'll need to file your taxes.
The site’s “fast facts”section presents a lighting overview of the tax landscape, including a daily audio report, tax calendar, and free e-newsletter. These resources include tips on common deductions and other general advice on tax planning. Additionally, the site contains tax tips, grouped according to categories such as self-employment, life events, and deductions. These concise tips are more factoids than comprehensive resources, but they can alert you issues you might need to explore further. H&R Block rounds out the section with a glossary, FAQs, and links.
The site also provides a guide to the latest changes in the tax code. For instance, did you know that as a self-employed taxpayer you can deduct (as an adjustment to income) up to 60 percent of the cost of health insurance that covers you, your spouse, and your dependents? The section include tables and charts that assist you in understanding new wrinkles—such as amendments and restrictions—that Congress has scrunched into your tax papers.
Finally, the site offers several tools for estimating your tax liability, including a refund estimator, a withholding calculator, and rate tables. It’s not exactly the same as having a CPA step out of your monitor and into your living room, but it does simplify your calculations. You can use the search engine that locates articles and other information on the site by topic. Enter a question, for instance “What issues do I need to be aware of as and independent contractor?” into the search field, and the site will pull out a brief synopsis of the law, including links to the necessary tax forms.
April 15 in lurking in your calendar—why put off the inevitable?
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Suggest a Site For Review
Every week, REALTOR® Magazine Online's Web review editor surfs the Internet to find sites useful to your business and off-hours lives. Have a favorite real estate Web site that you would like to see reviewed? Send your suggestions to Chris Leporini at mediatech@realtors.org. All decisions on which sites will be reviewed are completely at the discretion of REALTOR® Magazine Online's editorial staff. Please note: this column does not review individual practitioner or brokerage sites.
The column's focus includes free sites, as well as sites that charge for goods and services, but which still offer a free component of practical, sustained value to real estate practitioners, such as a free newsletter or regular news information.
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REALTOR® Magazine Online's "Web Review" summarizes the content of Web sites that may be of interest to members. NAR and REALTOR® Magazine Online are not responsible for, and nothing in the Web site profile shall constitute NAR's or REALTOR® Magazine Online's endorsement of, the web site, its content, products and services, or its provider. NAR and REALTOR® Magazine Online believe the information contained in this profile was correct and accurate as of the time it was prepared, but do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information and are not responsible for changes in the Web site. Members should conduct their own independent review of the Web site prior to any use of Web site, its content, products, or services to determine their suitability for the member's intended purpose. | |
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