Federal and State governments finally get with the program and provide tax information on the Web. Here's where to find the tax information you need to help make completing and filing your tax returns almost a pleasure.

By Joe Ebner

Need tax forms and publications? You no longer have to make a trip to the library or post office to get what you need. Now, you can look on the Web for it all.

Federal and state tax commissions have finally gotten around to making their forms and other publications on the Internet. Why it took years to do it is anyone's guess. But, it's all here now.

The first place to look for any federal tax information is the Internal Revenue Service Web site. It's well designed and, believe it or not, user friendly. The friendly gang at the IRS has made getting tax forms and various IRS publications a breeze. For the first time ever ALL IRS tax forms and publications are available for downloading from the site.

In addition to the forms and publications, the IRS offers a wealth of information on the new tax laws and details about the forms in plain, easy to follow language. It's like they almost want you to do things right!

You'll also find links to state tax sites and forms here making it a one-stop shop for most tax preparation needs.

The IRS site even tries to enliven tax preparation by injecting a bit of tax humor, if that's possible. For a light hearted look at IRS humor follow the Meet The Commissioner and Tax Day Countdown links.

A Note On Tax Form Format

Most tax forms available on the IRS and state sites are in Adobe Acrobat format, meaning they can't be used in your word processor or text editor. You must have the Acrobat reader to view and print the forms. Not to worry, though. It's free and easy to setup. Download a copy of the reader before you download the IRS forms. You'll find complete download and installation information at the Adobe Web site. Just click on the link above.

If you're unfamiliar with downloading or not sure how to proceed, see The Lowdown On Downloading for a complete tutorial on the art of downloading from the Web.

Tax Companies Offer Help Too

Tax preparation has spawned a whole industry around the filing and preparation of tax forms and the most successful companies represent themselves on the Web. A lot are nothing more than advertising sites but a few offer useful information.

Intuit, creators of the Quicken personal financial program and TurboTax tax preparation software offers well organized help and tax tips. You'll also find links to companies that will be more than happy to prepare your taxes for you. They even have an online discussion group for discussion of tax related problems.

H&R Block's Web site offers a detailed explanation of the new tax laws and a handy checklist that helps you organize your income and deductions. You'll also fine a tax refund calculator that lets you know if you can expect any refund this year.

The Tax Analysis Site is for big fans of all thing taxy with daily updates of related information as well as discussion groups and bulletin boards.

Taxsites and TaxWeb are two great resources that primarily provides links to other tax related information. From here you can get to state tax sites, find tax software, and tax related mailing lists and discussion groups.