Tax Research Review – 2005

One
of the greatest assets of financial
professionals is found in their
professional knowledge. But sometimes
it’s not what you know, but
whether you know how to find the
answer to a question, and how quickly
you can do so. With the breadth
and volatility of tax law, it is
virtually impossible to retain all
of the information you need in order
to offer the best results for your
clients’ tax liabilities.
This is especially true when servicing
clients whose businesses are affected
by multiple taxing jurisdictions.

There have long been print-based
resources available, providing the
basics such as the Internal Revenue
Code and updates on tax legislation
as well as analysis from experts
in taxation. But the continued movement
of tax research products to software
and web-based applications has made
access to these resources more available
to firms of all sizes. Additionally,
these applications are more easily
kept up-to-date through periodic
updates available for CD-based products
and even more so for web-based programs,
which are maintained by the vendor.

As these products have matured,
they have started to contribute
more noticeably to practices. In
addition to primary documents and
analysis, many online programs now
offer daily tax and financial news
updates that can even be tailored
to notify users of significant developments
in their practice areas. Many disc-based
programs have also improved integration
between the tax research program
and compliance software, allowing
users to access research related
to specific clients’ needs
and even electronically attach corresponding
materials to their returns for future
reference. Most programs also provide
varying research-oriented tools
and user features.