Tax Analysts – Web Services

Search results are presented in
a linked list that provides the
publication title, section number,
regulation or case. A selected document
opens into the primary window of
the program, offering the entire
returned document without highlighting
or otherwise noting where in the
document the queried text is located.
However, users can use the browser’s
Ctrl-F method to find search terms
within the returned document. Within
the documents, Tax Analysts provides
links to a document’s parent
publication and documents referenced
within the viewed document. The
system allows text to be copied
and pasted but does not include
a custom print function other than
that offered by the browser.

Overall,
the program offers traditional web-based
forward and back navigation, which
should be intuitive for most users.
You can use the “My Subscriptions”
button at the top of the left navigator
to get back to the Start page. The
search utility in the research libraries
does not provide a history list
or other method of saving and re-performing
searches. However, the CD and DVD-based
research products do provide search
customization and history functions.
The companion daily news and analysis
files, Tax Notes Today and State
Tax Today, do provide a customized
e-mail service that allows you to
save searches that run against daily
updates and then send the results
list to you by e-mail. This option
is discussed further below.

CONTENT
– 5 Stars

Tax Analysts has made almost all
of its research libraries available
online, providing subscription options
for federal, state and international
primary and analytical resources.
It also offers scholarly journals,
standard tax practice materials
and a library of more than 35,000
opinions from the Supreme Court,
U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Tax
Court, federal appellate courts,
and federal district courts, as
well as the Chief Counsel Advice
Library, which offers IRS-originated
letter rulings, technical advice
and assistance, field service advice,
and legal memorandums. Tax Notes
Today is one of the most respected
financial news compilation services,
providing tax coverage, analysis
and commentary in an organized format
that highlights critical tax law
and policy changes. The file is
updated continuously throughout
the day with *.PDFs of important
government documents such as newly
released IRS regulations and Congressional
committee reports.

INTEGRATION – 2.5 Stars
Tax Analysts’ web-based research
products do not integrate with tax
compliance software and offer limited
copy and paste functions. It also
offers no built-in print functions,
although documents print well using
Internet Explorer’s print
function.

CUSTOMIZATION – 5 Stars

Although Tax Analyst’s web-based
research services do not provide
user-based customization through
the research libraries (the CD and
DVD-based versions do), they do
provide exceptional search personalization
features through the optional Tax
Notes Today, as well as the state
and international versions of this
product. Using Tax Analysts’
new Customized E-Mail Alerts, subscribers
to these daily news updates can
elect to receive weekly, daily or
as-it-breaks news regarding federal,
state and international tax law
changes, rulings, legislation and
other events. Users can elect to
have the messages provide linked
headlines only, full contents, highlighted
summaries or abstracts, and can
have the news filtered by code,
document type, subject or keyword
so that the alerts focus on their
specific practice area. This is
truly an excellent tool.

UPDATES – 5 Stars
The web-based system is updated
continually by Tax Analysts as needed.
CD and DVD-based products are available
in subscriptions that are updated
quarterly or monthly.

RELATIVE VALUE – 4 Stars

Tax Analysts’ base research
libraries are moderately priced
and provide a good depth of primary
research material and corresponding
analysis. With its new customization
features, Tax Notes Today and State
Tax Today are excellent news gathering
tools that help professionals keep
abreast of notable changes in their
practice area without having to
weed through truckloads of irrelevant
material. Additionally, Tax Analysts’
open menu subscription-based system
allows users to pick and choose
the products and research libraries
they need without buying unneeded
materials.

2005 OVERALL RATING: 4.5 Stars

The products were reviewed based
on the following criteria:

• Ease of Use. This section explores navigation features, including accessibility of primary search tools and functions. As
  well, the ability to save common
  searches or specific results,
  or copy and paste contents of
  documents, adds to ease of use.
  Higher scores in this area reflect
  a comfortable, easy-to-use interface
  that provides intuitive access
  to key functions.
• Content. This section points out the research libraries available, including federal and state sources. It also identifies what type of content is available: primary sources such as code and rulings, as well as expert analysis and insight. A higher score here is earned by products with a comprehensive array of federal resources, including the availability of state research products. Research analysis is also considered, although not all professionals will seek such guidance.
• Integration. This section observes the ability of the software to work with tax preparation or write-up programs to automatically find areas of potential relevancy within the research, as well as
  the ability to attach or link
  saved research results to appropriate
  client files. Programs receiving
  better marks in this category
  make working between tax preparation,
  write-up and the research program
  more efficient.
• Customization. This section covers the ability of the programs to organize specific areas or subscribe to only specific areas, which allows practitioners to narrow down research content to only those areas relevant to their practice. A mountain of research is available; products scoring well in this section provide good sorting and personalization methods that enable users to tailor the program to meet their needs.
• Updates. With constantly changing tax law, the currency of information can be crucial. This section looks at how often research libraries are updated and by what method: CD, online automatic. Few practitioners enjoy performing software updates. As such, this section identifies
  the frequency and ease with which
  product updates are performed,
  with automatic, schedulable and
  online update capabilities receiving
  better marks.
• Relative Value. This section offers the reviewer’s subjective opinion of the “bang for the buck.”