Useful websites and Internet assignments.

• Author: Nellen, Annette
• Position: For tax information

Editor's note: For more information about this column, please contact Dr. Schmidt at Dennis.Schmidt@uni.edu.

The web is teeming with tax information, including a variety of resources useful to educators when researching tax issues and preparing for and conducting class. Assigning Internet research problems is an excellent way to expose students to different types of web-based tax information and hone their research skills. This column discusses numerous websites (arranged by category) that tax educators may find beneficial to their teaching and research activities and suggestions for Internet research assignments.

Tax Directories

Tax and Accounting Sites Directory (www.taxsites.com), originally developed by the author, is a comprehensive index of web-based tax and accounting resources. The site contains more than 2,000 links to other websites, arranged in a hierarchy of topical categories and subcategories. The directory includes several categories useful to educators and students, such as tax topics, Federal tax law, state and local tax, international tax, tax forms and academia. Links are arranged by subcategory within each category; for example, the classifications within the Federal tax law category are tax legislation, recent tax acts, Internal Revenue Code, regulations and rulings, IRS administrative materials, court decisions, tax topics and rates and tables. The site is easy to navigate and includes a Google[TM]-powered search engine.

Will Yancey's Home Page (www. willyancey.com) is especially useful for locating state and local tax resources. This site has pages dedicated to local sales, use and transaction taxes; state sales, use and excise taxes; property tax; and unclaimed property and contains several pages on sampling for tax audits. Alan Kalman's Tax Resources on the Web (www:taxtopics.net) lists more than 180 tax topics with links generally to IRS publications, applicable tax forms and secondary authorities.

Directories are valuable resources for tax educators as they prepare for and conduct class and design Internet research projects. When preparing for class, well-organized links to a wealth of tax information are at an instructor's fingertips. When conducting class in a computer lab or multimedia classroom, educators can use a directory to locate and display tax resources quickly. For example, in response to a student question an instructor wants to demonstrate the correct reporting of an item on a return. The instructor can use a directory to locate the appropriate Federal or state tax form within seconds and display it to the class.

Educators can also make good use of tax directories when designing Internet research assignments. One useful exercise is a "scavenger hunt"--the educator directs the students to use a directory to find a host of web-based tax resources, such as Federal or state tax...