Make sure your tax research library is up to date.

A minimal research library is essential to a smooth tax season and to being able to serve your clients with confidence and efficiency. If you can't find an answer, by all means call NSA's tax hotline; just remember, turn-around time in tax season can sometimes be 24 to 72 hours.

The Quickfinder Handbook is one of the best desk-top reference books and a must for small practitioners. The set consists of three handbooks--Small Business, Income Tax and Financial Planning, and All-States. These books are chock full of information and have the answers to most of your tax questions. You can also purchase a CD that contains all three volumes. NSA members get a discount when they order via the form in the Quickfinder ad or through the NSA Bookstore on our website.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The CCH Master Tax Guide is a very popular desk-top reference book. This guide has less information than the Quickfinder handbooks but is a good complement to them. The guide also can be ordered at a discount on the NSA website.

The IRS is again offering their CD-ROM of 2003 Tax Products. This disk contains all the forms and publications that any practitioner could possibly want. Prior year forms go back as far as 1994. When you can't use the IRS website, this disk is the next best thing. The cost is nominal. Order on the IRS website or in the NSA Bookstore. The IRS website will answer your questions online. It takes several days up to a week to get an answer, but this is another resource.

Of the many CD-ROM research programs, the user-friendly Kleinrock's Tax Expert is one of the most popular. It is available in monthly, quarterly and yearly updates. It is low-cost and contains the IRS code, regulations, tax court cases, and mountains of other data. Another strong tool is One Disc by Tax Analysts. This program is also user friendly and offers an expanded Tax Court case library in addition to District Court cases. CFS also has a CD-ROM program for tax research. All three of these programs are inexpensive and you should have one of these in your office library.

Among the more sophisticated research tools are several major online programs. I consider CCH Internet Tax Research NetWork to be the best. Several versions/prices are available; it comes on disk or as an online package. RIA, BNA, and Tax Analysts also sell extensive programs. These packages are all user friendly and sophisticated, but they are more expensive than those mentioned earlier. Your best bet is to decide what fits your office and your budget.

Bernie Phillips, ATP

Bernie Phillips, NSA's Tax Manager, can be reached at bphillips@nsacct.org or at 800-966-6679,. ext. 1321.