Building a cost-effective state and local tax library.

• Author: Joseph, Douglas A.

Tax practitioners face a voluminous amount of state and local tax information. To stay organized and informed, it is essential for them to maintain a state and local tax library with information on all of the different tax categories in each state and locality in which their clients transact business, as well as on multistate matters.

A comprehensive library is a necessity for practitioners who typically deal with both basic and sophisticated state and local tax issues. In addition, given the ever-changing nature of the field, a library with current materials on developments in state legislative initiatives and Federal legislation affecting state and local taxation enables practitioners to keep up to date.

Unfortunately, many small firms do not have financial resources that they can devote to a state and local tax library. In such instances, efficiently allocating the resources they do have is imperative. Practitioners will be happy to know that they can build and tailor a state and local tax library with free and low-cost, yet highly reliable, resources.

Basic Reference Materials

A basic "bare bones" state and local tax library can give practitioners quick access to routine tax information, in print and electronically on rates, specific issues and basic multistate taxing principles. Practitioners can supplement such a library with additional state and municipal websites, as well as with low-cost proprietary publications.

State and municipal websites. The Tax and Accounting Sites Directory (www.taxsites.com) is perhaps the most indispensable state and local tax resource of all. When practitioners do not have specific web addresses, this site links them to websites of many states and localities; organizations that track news, issues and developments (e.g., the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC), the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) and state taxpayer associations); and many other tax and accounting resources. Individual websites provide basic tax information on rates, filing deadlines and contact information, free of charge. In addition, practitioners can download forms, updates, technical publications, tax-authority rulings, legislative developments, some case law and primary resources (e.g., state and municipal statutes and regulations).

In addition to taxsites.com, practitioners can also locate information on municipal tax codes at:

* www.municode.com;

* www.generalcode.com/webcode2.html; and

* http://nt2.scbbs.com/cgi-bin/ om_isapi.dll?clientID=202521.

FindLaw.com. This website is an all-purpose free portal for legal resources. Practitioners can access state tax forms, statutes, regulations, rulings, state tax cases and U.S. Supreme Court cases affecting state tax law, as well as several other legal resources.

FTA. The FTA Website (www. taxadmin.org) is another free online resource, offering standard official charts of individual state rates, apportionment formulas and...