Useful WebSites:
April 1999
July 2000
November 2000
December 2000
January 2001
February 2001
March 2001
April 2001
May 2001
June 2001
July 2001
August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
Newest QuickFinder Book
As I have written on several occasions, I have long been a big fan of the QuickFinder reference books. I've been buying them for myself and my staff for well over the last 20 years. Every so often, they add a new book to their library. This year's new offering is called Tax Planning For Individuals QuickFinder Handbook. I recently received my copy of the 2004 printed edition, and had a chance to look through it over the past few days as I've been waiting for my computer and network problems to work themselves out. I must say they have hit another home run with this book.
It is jam packed with reference materials and tips for just about every aspect of individuals' lives, including small businesses. The tabs include:
Tab 1: Tables and Worksheets
Tab 2: Form 1040 Roadmap
Tab 3: Residences and Vacation Homes
Tab 4: Sole Proprietors
Tab 5: Compensation
Tab 6: Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds
Tab 7: Real Estate (including a lot of info on 1031 exchanges)
Tab 8: Children and Education
Tab 9: Divorce
Tab 10: Charitable Giving
Tab 11: Retirement Plans
Tab 12: Alternative Minimum Tax
Tab 13: Elderly
Tab 14: Estate and Gift Tax
I wholeheartedly recommend any tax practitioner add this new book to their library and if you are like me, it will be right next to your desk and referred to several times a day. For nontax professionals, it is a super bargain for all of the useful information it contains. At just $43 (less if multiple books are ordered), it costs the same as about 13 minutes of my time; so if it answers one question that you would normally have to pay your advisor for, it's paid for itself. I've never understood why books such as the J. K. Lasser tax guides are big sellers every year, when the QuickFinder books are so much more useful.
I also ordered the CD-ROM versions of all the books for this year. None of them have arrived yet, but I'm looking forward to that. I haven't been using the CD-ROM versions as often as the paper versions. However, there are often times when clients ask questions about certain topics and it's easier for me to cut and paste from the CD version into an e-mail or a letter than to make photocopies from the printed version.
As some people may know, the original founder of the QuickFinder company passed away a few years back and there were concerns about whether the company would stay in business and the quality would stay as high as it's been, especially after it was purchased by Thomson PPC a short while ago. This newest book is the first one I have received that has the Thomson PPC logo on it. You literally cannot tell that there was a change of any kind of the ownership or management of this company. The format and layout, even the little cartoons, are exactly how they've always been shown. There is definitely no slippage in quality.
The biggest problem in any forward looking tax book is the cloudiness of the crystal ball, especially in light of the expiring tax provisions and even the recently passed extender bill. Many of the 2005 and beyond figures will have to be revised in this book. QuickFinder has been great about putting updates on their web site, which I try to check at least once every couple of days.
Labels: 1031
- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 10/08/2004 01:11:00 PM Send this post:
