A shopper's guide to Web-based tax research: how to select the cyberservices that best fit your needs.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * TAX RESEARCH HAS ENTERED THE 21st CENTURY as Web-based services duplicate DUPLICATE. The double of anything. 2. It is usually applied to agreements, letters, receipts, and the like, when two originals are made of either of them. Each copy has the same effect. all the traditional paper-based products. Cybervendors provide fast searches for pertinent PERTINENT, evidence. Those facts which tend to prove the allegations of the party offering them, are called pertinent; those which have no such tendency are called impertinent, 8 Toull. n. 22. By pertinent is also meant that which belongs. Willes, 319. information and give practitioners an easy way to handle those data. * WEB-BASED TAX RESEARCH IS A TIME-SAVER because it allows CPAs to quickly locate key information and copy and paste To copy files from one location to another or to copy text and images from one document to another. All modern operating systems and applications have a copy and paste capability that is typically selected from an Edit menu. See cut and paste and Win Copy between windows. pertinent material to their files. * SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING a subscription service: * All Web-based tax research products have similar content in at least one area: They typically contain all the primary authority sources anyone would likely need in tax practice. * Advisers also must consider secondary (editorial) authorities when resolving tax issues. Although practitioners may not rely upon them as precedent, as a practical matter CPAs frequently begin their hunt by consulting editorial authority, especially when researching unfamiliar areas of the tax law. * WHEN WEIGHING weigh 1 v. weighed, weigh·ing, weighs v.tr. 1. To determine the weight of by or as if by using a scale or balance. 2. A PURCHASE, CPAs should not ignore a product's look and feel. Things such as screen design (the location of buttons) and the underlying architecture of the search engine and processing tools dramatically affect how quickly a CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. can find and analyze data. * WEB-BASED TAX RESEARCH SERVICES continue to improve in convenience and functionality. Already some vendors offer wireless access, via PDAs, giving users the option of researching anytime and anywhere without a laptop computer A portable computer that has a flat LCD screen and usually weighs less than eight pounds. Often called just a "laptop," it uses batteries for mobile use and AC power for charging the batteries and desktop use. Today's high-end laptops provide all the capabilities of most desktop computers. . Providers also aim to make the search function more intuitive. Now that all paper-based tax research products are available by subscription in electronic form, tax research has entered the 21st century. As a result, fewer CPAs spend their time hunched hunch n. 1. An intuitive feeling or a premonition: had a hunch that he would lose. 2. A hump. 3. A lump or chunk: "She . . . over huge tomes of state and federal tax laws, IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. pronouncements and Tax Court decisions. Likewise, fewer are scribbling scrib·ble v. scrib·bled, scrib·bling, scrib·bles v.tr. 1. To write hurriedly without heed to legibility or style. 2. To cover with scribbles, doodles, or meaningless marks. v. citations and decisions on yellow pads. Instead, many are analyzing the tax scene from their computers or their pocket-size Adj. 1. pocket-size - limited in size or scope; "a small business"; "a newspaper with a modest circulation"; "small-scale plans"; "a pocket-size country" pocket-sized, small, small-scale, modest, minor personal digital assistants (PDAs), swiftly and easily clicking and dragging support data from the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the to their electronic files. If you haven't have·n't Contraction of have not. haven't have not haven't have made the transition to Web-based--also known as "cyber (1) From "cybernetics," it is a prefix attached to everyday words to add a computer, electronic or online connotation. The term is similar to "virtual," but the latter is used more frequently. See virtual. "-based--tax research, read on to discover its advantages over paper and how to sort through the complexities of ordering a subscription to one of the many cyberservices Cyberservices is an information technology term referring to commercial internet based services, or other through similar networks. Widely used in the 1990s the word was replaced by more specific terms of particular services, after the dot com bust of the early 2000s. . One of the biggest benefits of Web-based research services is time-savings: CPAs can locate tax data much faster than the traditional paper-based way. For example, if CPAs working with paper encounter a reference to a section of the Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code is the body of law that codifies all federal tax laws, including income, estate, gift, excise, alcohol, tobacco, and employment taxes. These laws constitute title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. or court case, they must retrieve that material by searching through volumes in a tax law library. But if they subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; a Web service, all it takes is a mouse click on a hypertext hypertext, technique for organizing computer databases or documents to facilitate the nonsequential retrieval of information. Related pieces of information are connected by preestablished or user-created links that allow a user to follow associative trails across the citation Citation (foaled 1945) U.S. Thoroughbred racehorse. In four seasons he won 32 of 45 races, finished second in ten, and third in two. He won the 1948 Triple Crown, and became the first horse to win $1 million. He set a world record in 1950 by running a mile in 1:33 3/5. , and presto, the information is instantly available. Add to that the convenience of cut and paste To move an object from one location to another. When the operation is complete, there is nothing left in the original location. It may refer to relocating files from one folder to another or to relocating selected text or images from one document to another. , which eliminates the need for photocopying photocopying, process whereby written or printed matter is directly copied by photographic techniques. Generally, photocopying is practical when just a few copies of an original are needed. When many copies are required, printing processes are more economical. original sources or supporting material. Finally, subscribers to Web-based services are guaranteed the latest sources of authority. PICK A WEB SERVICE Now that you know the advantages of Web-based research, how do you choose among the many available products? Before making a decision on selecting a subscription service, here is some background you need to know. * Primary authority. All Web-based tax research products have similar content in at least one area: They typically contain all the primary authority sources a tax practitioner would likely need, including the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS interpretive in·ter·pre·tive also in·ter·pre·ta·tive adj. Relating to or marked by interpretation; explanatory. in·ter  pre·tive·ly adv. regulations
and pronouncements and federal court case law.* Secondary (editorial) authority. In addition to primary authorities, tax advisers usually turn also to secondary authorities (material written by tax experts) when resolving tax issues. Although practitioners may not rely upon the secondary authorities as precedent, as a practical matter, they frequently begin their hunt by consulting them, especially when researching unfamiliar areas. For example, CPAs may refer to annotated tax services, which are organized by section of the Internal Revenue Code and include each section's text, a legislative history of changes to the section, the pertinent regulations and annotations of relevant case law and administrative law administrative law, law governing the powers and processes of administrative agencies. The term is sometimes used also of law (i.e., rules, regulations) developed by agencies in the course of their operation. . Practitioners also may consult topical topical /top·i·cal/ (top´i-k'l) pertaining to a particular area, as a topical antiinfective applied to a certain area of the skin and affecting only the area to which it is applied. top·i·cal adj. services where information is organized by subject rather than by code section. Be aware, however, that Web-based tax research products generally differ significantly in terms of the quality, depth and scope of secondary authority provided, so when considering a service, check its content carefully. Exhibit 1, page 28, lists the providers of two types of comprehensive services that offer both the primary authorities and extensive secondary content. Some services offer only the secondary content provided by a single publisher. These include Tax.CCHGroup's Tax Research Network, Research Institute of America's Checkpoint (programming) checkpoint - Saving the current state of a program and its data, including intermediate results, to disk or other non-volatile storage, so that if interrupted the program could be restarted at the point at which the last checkpoint occurred. , Bureau of National Affairs' Tax Management Library and Tax Analysts' Tax Base. As exhibit 1 shows, if you subscribed only to RIA's Checkpoint, the only topical service available to you would be RIA's Federal Tax Coordinator 2d. Other services offer packages containing editorial material from multiple publishers. For example, subscribers to lexis.com could have simultaneous access to CCH's Federal Tax Service and BNA's Tax Management Portfolios. The annual subscription fee for both the single-publisher and the multiple-publisher services is commensurate com·men·su·rate adj. 1. Of the same size, extent, or duration as another. 2. Corresponding in size or degree; proportionate: a salary commensurate with my performance. 3. with the amount and type of material provided as well as the number of users. Charges typically run to several thousand dollars a year. With the exception of lexis.com and west law.com, which sell their materials in a strictly a la carte fashion, the other single-publisher providers sell their editorial content in a wide assortment assortment /as·sort·ment/ (ah-sort´ment) the random distribution of nonhomologous chromosomes to daughter cells in metaphase of the first meiotic division. as·sort·ment n. of bundles. Exhibit 1 shows the vendors' least expensive bundles and their most expensive ones. Cyberservices also offer economically priced subscriptions with limited material (see exhibit 2, page 29). Although they cost less than $500 a year, they provide all primary tax law sources such as the tax code, regulations, rulings and court cases. They also offer some topical guidance in addition to the primary sources. However, the topical material is not of the same depth and scope as the topical material provided by the more costly services listed in exhibit 1. Consequently, the lower priced subscriptions are better suited for smaller tax practices dealing with less complex tax issues. SPECIAL SERVICES Because the explanations of the tax law contained in the annotated services usually are brief, CPAs often turn to topical services for more detail. Practitioners seeking even more detail than annotated and topical services turn to treatises or journals, which are multivolume Refers to multiple, independent entities that reside on the same disk or cartridge. For example, using software that supports the feature, a CD-R disc can be recorded in multiple sessions that are retrieved independently of each other and not linked as one. See multisession. books dealing with a particular area of tax law and now are available electronically. Tax journals usually are published monthly or quarterly and contain articles dealing with timely tax topics. The final type of editorial authority is daily or weekly newsletters, which report recent changes in the tax law as well as forecast changes. MAKE THE SELECTION When weighing a purchase, don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. ignore a Web service's look and feel. Such things as screen design (the location of buttons) and the underlying architecture of the search engine and processing tools dramatically affect how quickly a researcher can find and analyze data. Generally, the more powerful, detailed and complex the service, the more difficult it will be to use. So the trade-off involves ease of use vs. the level of specificity or precision in searching for an answer. Because preferences usually differ according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a user's familiarity with computers and tolerance for complexity in general, take advantage of free trials and training to assess which interface is most comfortable to you. Finally, consider the after-sale services--the cost of training and the availability of online help and technical support. Clearly, Web-based tax research services will continue to improve in convenience and functionality. Already, some vendors offer wireless access to data, via PDAs, giving users the option of researching tax issues anytime and anywhere without a computer. And CCH CCH Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (Spanish) CCH Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist CCH Cook County Hospital CCH Certified in Classical Homeopathy CCH Country Club Hills (Fairfax City, VA, USA) recently introduced a product called CCH Client Relate, which integrates its research network with its ProSystem fx tax-return-preparation software. The integration of tax research and compliance software allows users to search through clients' returns for tax planning Tax planning Devising strategies throughout the year in order to minimize tax liability, for example, by choosing a tax filing status that is most beneficial to the taxpayer. opportunities. Finally, expect vendors to make information searches more intuitive by adding features such as the ability to search using natural language questions as opposed to keywords. Clearly, cyber-research is the wave of the future, and as the services continue to improve, tax research will become even faster and more effective.
Exhibit 1: Premium Web-Based Tax Research Providers
Research Institute
Provider Tax.CCHGroup of America
Product name CCH Tax Research RIA Checkpoint
Network
URL tax.cchgroup.com www.riahome.com
Primary tax law
sources Yes Yes
Annotated services Standard Federal United States
Tax Reporter Tax Reporter
Topical services Federal Tax Service, Federal Tax
U.S. Master Tax Guide Coordinator 2d
Treatises and Some CCH and Matthew Warren, Gorham & Lamont
journals Bender Treatises, Treatises (including
Taxes--The Tax Federal Income Taxation
Magazine of Corporations and
Shareholders, and
Partnership Taxation)
and Journals (including
Journal of Taxation and
International Tax
Journal)
Weekly or daily Federal Tax Day, Federal Taxes Weekly
magazines Federal Tax Weekly Alert, Tax Watch
and newsletters
Prices for basic
bundle by number
of users *
Cost for 1 user $3,033 $4,815
Cost for 5 users $3,488 $5,300
Cost for 10 users $4,550 $5,545
Prices for premium
bundle by number
of users
([dagger])
Cost for 1 user N/A $29,415
Cost for 5 users N/A $32,360
Cost for 10 users N/A $33,830
Bureau of Tax
Provider National Affairs Analysts
Product name Tax Management Tax Analysts
Library Tax Base
URL www.bnatax.com www.tax.org
Primary tax law
sources Yes Yes
Annotated services None None
Topical services BNA U.S. Income Federal Tax
Portfolios, Baedeker
Tax Practice Series
Treatises and Compensation Planning Tax Practice
journals Journal; Estates, Magazine
Gifts and Trusts
Journal; International
Journal, Real Estate
Journal, Tax
Management Memorandum
Weekly or daily Daily Tax Report Tax Notes
magazines Highlights, Weekly Today
and newsletters Report
Prices for basic
bundle by number
of users *
Cost for 1 user $2,884 $990
Cost for 5 users $4,059 $2,200
Cost for 10 users $5,359 $3,500
Prices for premium
bundle by number
of users ([dagger])
Cost for 1 user $6,478 $990
Cost for 5 users $8,818 $2,200
Cost for 10 users $11,568 $3,500
Provider LexisNexis
Product name LexisNexis
lexis.com
URL www.lexis.com
Primary tax law
sources Yes
Annotated services CCH's Standard
Federal Tax Reporter,
RIA's United States
Tax Reporter
Topical services RIA's Federal Tax
Coordinator 2d,
CCH's Federal Tax
Service, BNA's Tax
Management Portfolios
Treatises and Matthew Bender
journals Treatises (including
U.S. International
Taxation and Tax Treaties),
Warren, Gorham & Lamont
Tax Journals (including
Journal of Taxation
and International Tax
Journal), Tax Adviser, Tax
Analysts' Weekly Journals,
other specialized tax
journals, law reviews
Weekly or daily Tax Analysts' Tax Notes
magazines Today, CCH's Federal
and newsletters Tax Day, BNA's Daily
Tax Report, other
specialized tax
journals, law reviews
Prices for basic
bundle by number
of users *
Cost for 1 user ([double dagger])
Cost for 5 users ([double dagger])
Cost for 10 users ([double dagger])
Prices for premium
bundle by number
of users
([dagger])
Cost for 1 user ([double dagger])
Cost for 5 users ([double dagger])
Cost for 10 users ([double dagger])
Provider West Group
Product name West Group
westlaw.com
URL www.westlaw.com
Primary tax law
sources Yes
Annotated services RIA's United States
Tax Reporter
Topical services RIA's Federal Tax
Coordinator 2d,
BNA's Tax
Management
Portfolios
Treatises and Warren, Gorham &
journals Lamont Treatises
(including Federal Income
Taxation of Corporations
and Shareholders, and
Partnership Taxation)
and Journals (including
Journal of Taxation
and International
Tax Journal), Tax Adviser,
other specialized tax
journals, law reviews
Weekly or daily BNA's Daily Tax
magazines Report and Weekly
and newsletters Report, RIA's Federal
Taxes Weekly Alert,
other specialized tax
journals, law reviews
Prices for basic
bundle by number
of users *
Cost for 1 user ([double dagger])
Cost for 5 users ([double dagger])
Cost for 10 users ([double dagger])
Prices for premium
bundle by number
of users
([dagger])
Cost for 1 user ([double dagger])
Cost for 5 users ([double dagger])
Cost for 10 users ([double dagger])
* Prices are for each provider's least expensive bundle containing,
at a minimum, the primary tax law sources, annotated and topical
services, and daily and weekly newsletters listed by provider above.
([dagger]) Prices are for each provider's most expensive bundle
containing all available editorial content. Prices for RIA's
Checkpoint are higher than those of their competitors because
they offer more editorial content.
([double dagger]) LexisNexis and West Group sell their
materials a la carte.
Exhibit 2: Economically Priced Web-Based Services
Provider Tax CCHGroup Kleinrock
Product name CCH Essentials Tax Expert Online
URL tax.cchgroup. www.kleinrock.com
com/essentials
Primary tax Primary tax Primary tax
law sources * law sources law sources
Topical Federal Tax Kleinrock's
materials Topics, Tax Analysis and
on line Angles--Special Planning and
Taxpayers, CCH's Practice
Planning Guide,
Practice Before
IRS and Courts
Weekly or daily News of Daily
newsletters the Week Tax Bulletin
Cost for 1 user $495 $428
Cost for 5 users $570 $628
Cost for 10 users $742 $778
Provider Tax Analysts
Product name Basic Federal
Tax Research
Library on TaxBase
URL www.tax.org
Primary tax Primary tax
law sources * law sources
Topical Federal Tax
materials Baedeker
on line
Weekly or daily None
newsletters
Cost for 1 user $129
Cost for 5 users $300
Cost for 10 users $470
* All three services provide access to the Internal Revenue Code,
IRS regulations and rulings and federal tax case law.
RON WORSHAM, CPA, PhD, is the LeeAnn Albrecht Albrecht. For rulers thus named, use Albert. Fellow and associate professor of accountancy at Brigham Young University Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah; Latter-Day Saints; coeducational; opened as an academy in 1875 and became a university in 1903. It is noted for its law and business schools. , Prow), Utah. His e-mail address See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address is Ronald_Worsham(@byu.edu See .edu. (networking) edu - ("education") The top-level domain for educational establishments in the USA (and some other countries). E.g. "mit.edu". The UK equivalent is "ac.uk". . MARSHALL Marshall. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,711), seat of Saline co., N central Mo.; inc. 1839. In a large farm area, it is a processing center for grain, eggs, meat, and dairy products. Marshall is the seat of Missouri Valley College. B. ROMNEY Romney, England: see New Romney. , CPA, PhD, CFE CFE Conventional Forces in Europe (treaty) CFE Cash Flow to Equity (finance/accounting) CFE Comisión Federal de Electricidad (México) CFE Certified Fraud Examiner , is the John and Nancy Hardy Hardy may refer to:
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