Hang 1040! Surfing the Net for the newest tax info

Now that the Internet occupies a major role in today'sbusiness world, it's not surprising that the latest taxdevelopments are just a mouse click away. Many tax sites areespecially useful to entrepreneurs looking for tax compliance andplanning data.

While tax sites are plentiful, it's important to keep inmind that the information you find on them is only as reliable asthe sources it comes from. Make sure you know as much as possibleabout a site's owners, their credentials, and how longthey've been providing tax information before you do somethingdrastic like change your accounting system on their advice. Steerclear of Web sites sponsored by tax protest groups because theyoften advocate tax positions that are overly aggressive and, insome cases, frivolous, says Dennis Schmidt, a University ofNorthern Iowa accounting professor who does an outstanding job withhis Tax and Accounting Sites Directory. (See below.)

Also make sure the information you use is current. Some sitesmay have outdated tax data, which could eventually lead to troublewith the IRS. Look for dates on the information posted, and go tothe site regularly to determine how frequently it updates itsdata.