IRS Embraces New Applications to Make Tax Information More Accessible to Small Businesses and the Self-employed

Maximizing the Web’s convenience, accuracy and speed, IRS.gov -IRS’s web site- now assists millions of individual taxpayers, tax professionals, and small business owners to better understand and meet their tax responsibilities.

Updated Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop

The IRS’s Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is an interactive resource to help small business owners learn about their federal tax rights and responsibilities. This dynamic educational product, available online and on CD 24/7 from your computer, consists of nine stand-alone lessons that can be selected and viewed in any sequence. A bookmark feature makes it possible to leave and return to a specific point within the lesson. Users also have access to a list of useful online references that enhance the learning experience by allowing them to view references and the video lessons simultaneously.

The Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is the first of a series of video products designed exclusively for small business taxpayers. A new companion series called, “Your Guide to an IRS Audit” is in development with plans for a summer 2010 launch.

IRS.gov now features audio and video

IRS is augmenting its curriculum of online learning and educational productsfor the small business community by developing new live broadcasting, phone forums and webinars and offering audio and video presentations.

Testing social media

The IRS is testing social media-recently launching a YouTube video site at YouTube – irsvideos’s Channel and an iTunes podcast to help taxpayers take full advantage of the 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The IRS YouTube channel debuted with seven Recovery videos in English and American Sign Language and eight in Spanish plus other languages.

People without an iTunes account can hear those same podcasts, in English and Spanish, on IRS.gov’s Multimedia Center. People can also visit the audio site at iTunes to listen to IRS podcasts about ARRA tax credits.

To get the most timely IRS news and information about products and services for small businesses and the self-employed, subscribe to e-News on IRS.gov, click “Subscribe Now” at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.

Hope this information is helpful!