Useful Links

Links to Tax and Real Estate resources

Business, Real Estate and Taxes

Government sites

The American Dream: starting your own small business

US Small Business Administration (SBA) www.sba.gov
Business Owner’s Toolkit www.toolkit.com
Small Business Development Center portal www.sbdcnet.org
Houston Small Business Development Center www.sbdc.uh.edu
City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity www.houstontx.gov/obo
Texas Roadmap to Starting a Business www.sbdc.uh.edu/images/sbdc/documents/sbdc-tx%20rd%203.2.08.pdf
SBA guide to writing a business plan www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan
Sample business plans, including RE-specific www.bplans.com/samples
A Guide to Grant Writing For Small Businesses www.bfscapital.com/guide-grant-writing-for-small-businesses

Realty buzz: learning about Real Estate business

REI Club – “guru” articles www.reiclub.com/real-estate-articles.php
Bill Bronchick – RE attorney and investor www.LegalWiz.com
Rentometer.com – compare your rent to market www.rentometer.com
Texas Real Estate Commission forms www.trec.state.tx.us/formslawscontracts/forms/forms-contracts.asp
Free mortgage amortization calculator www.amortization-calc.com
Fancy Excel-based mortgage calculator www.vertex42.com/Calculators/home-mortgage-calculator.html
InfoTrak – mortgage rates and tips mortgage.chron.com
Mortgage refinance rates – Texas www.mortgageloan.com/Rates/Texas/

For CPA wannabes: do-it-yourself online tax research

Essential Links – a portal to anything tax-related www.el.com/elinks/taxes
WorldWideWeb Tax – collection of tax tips and links www.wwwebtax.com
CPA Net – another tax portal www.cpanet.com/tax
Small Business Taxes and Management www.smbiz.com
Old Federal and state tax forms – from 1990 www.1040.com/site/tax-tools/forms-publications/
National Association of Tax Practitioners www.natptax.com/Pages/default.aspx
Free Online Income Tax Course www.thetaxcollege.com
IRS – Actual law: Code and Regulations www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html
The US Federal Tax Code – J.Walker www.fourmilab.ch/ustax/ustax.html
The US Federal Tax Code – Cornell www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode26
Salvation Army – guide to donation values www.satruck.org/donation-value-guide
Goodwill – guide to donation values www.goodwill.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Donation_Valuation_Guide.pdf
H&R Block – tax estimates calculators hrblock.com/taxes/tax_calculators/index.html
Review of IRS activities – Syracuse University trac.syr.edu/tracirs/

Dear Uncle Sam: official Federal government sites

Official Federal Government Portal www.usa.gov
The White House www.whitehouse.gov
Social Security Administration www.ssa.gov
Business link to U.S. Government www.business.gov
Small Business Administration www.sba.gov
Government Printing Office www.gpoaccess.gov
Homeland Security and Immigration www.dhs.gov
Department of State www.state.gov
Applicable Federal Rates for lending http://evans-legal.com/dan/afr.html
The Library of Congress – Thomas Law Center thomas.loc.gov

Into the lion’s mouth: Visiting the IRS website

IRS – Home page (feel “at home” here?) www.irs.gov
IRS – Forms & Publications www.irs.gov/formspubs
IRS – News www.irs.gov/newsroom
IRS – Small Businesses www.irs.gov/businesses/small
IRS – Local offices in Texas www.irs.gov/localcontacts/article/0,,id=98337,00.html

Don’t mess with Texas: official sites of the State of Texas

Business registration: Texas Secretary of State www.sos.state.tx.us/corp
Welcome to Texas: Governor business assistance www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/ecodev/sba
State taxes: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts window.state.tx.us/taxes
Texas Franchise/Margin tax window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/franchise
Texas Franchise/Margin tax – Frequently Asked Questions window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/franchise/faq_questions.html
Texas Sales and Use tax window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales
Texas Workforce Commission (incl. unemployment taxes) www.twc.state.tx.us
Texas Local Property taxes www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax
Texas counties appraisal districts www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/apprdir10/
Is your Texas business in good standing? www.ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html
How to dissolve your Texas LLC or corporation www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/termreinfaqs.shtml

Too high: Protesting local property tax assessments in TX

Appraisal districts for Texas counties www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/apprdir06
Introduction to the protest process, video by TX Comptroller www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/ARBvid/player.html
Texas Property Taxpayers’ Remedies guide www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/96-528-07.pdf
Manual for the Appraisal Review Boards www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/arb07/96-308.pdf
Texas all-counties protest form www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/50-132.pdf
Harris county – Personal business property renditions www.hcad.org/forms/default.asp?form=8
Harris county – iSettle online protest & settlement system www.hcad.org/isettle/

From sea to shining sea: Other states tax authorities

Alabama Department of Revenue www.revenue.alabama.gov
Alaska Department of Revenue www.revenue.state.ak.us
Arizona Department of Revenue www.revenue.state.az.us
Arkansas Department of Revenue www.arkansas.gov/dfa
California Franchise Tax Board www.ftb.ca.gov
Colorado Department of Revenue www.colorado.gov/revenue
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services www.ct.gov/drs
Delaware Division of Revenue www.state.de.us/revenue
D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue www.otr.cfo.dc.gov/otr/site/default.asp
Florida Department of Revenue www.dor.myflorida.com/dor/
Georgia Department of Revenue www.etax.dor.ga.gov/
Hawaii Department of Taxation www.hawaii.gov/tax
Idaho State Tax Commission www.tax.idaho.gov
Illinois Department of Revenue www.iltax.com
Indiana Department of Revenue www.in.gov/dor
Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance www.iowa.gov/tax/
Kansas Department of Revenue www.ksrevenue.org
Kentucky Department of Revenue www.revenue.ky.gov
Louisiana Department of Revenue www.revenue.louisiana.gov
Maine Revenue Services www.maine.gov/revenue
Maryland Comptroller of Maryland www.marylandtaxes.com
Massachusetts Department of Revenue www.mass.gov/?pageID=dorhomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Ador
Michigan Department of Treasury www.michigan.gov/treasury
Minnesota Department of Revenue www.taxes.state.mn.us
Mississippi State Tax Commission www.dor.ms.gov
Missouri Department of Revenue www.dor.mo.gov
Montana Department of Revenue www.revenue.mt.gov/default.mcpx
Nebraska Department of Revenue www.revenue.state.ne.us
Nevada Department of Taxation www.tax.state.nv.us
New Hampshire Department of Revenue www.revenue.nh.gov
New Jersey Division of Taxation www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department www.tax.newmexico.gov/Pages/TRD-Homepage.aspx
New York State Tax Department www.tax.ny.gov/
North Carolina Department of Revenue www.dor.state.nc.us
North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner www.nd.gov/tax
Ohio Department of Taxation www.tax.ohio.gov
Oklahoma Tax Commission www.oktax.state.ok.us
Oregon Department of Revenue www.oregon.gov/dor
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue www.revenue.state.pa.us
Rhode Island Division of Taxation www.tax.ri.gov
South Carolina Department of Revenue www.sctax.org
South Dakota Department of Revenue www.state.sd.us/drr2/revenue.html
Tennessee Department of Revenue www.state.tn.us/revenue
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts window.state.tx.us/taxes
Utah State Tax Commission www.tax.utah.gov
Vermont Department of Taxes www.state.vt.us/tax/index.shtml
Virginia Department of Taxation www.tax.virginia.gov
Washington Department of Revenue www.dor.wa.gov
West Virginia Department of Tax & Revenue http://www.revenue.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Wisconsin Department of Revenue www.dor.state.wi.us
Wyoming Department of Revenue revenue.state.wy.us