Comprehensive, easy-to-read, and well organized. I highly recommend J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax to anyone preparing their own taxes, either by hand or by computer. It's the next best thing to having a CPA sitting next to you.
Pros:
J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax is a comprehensive, well organized, and easy-to-read guide to preparing your federal income tax return. It's easy to find information on specific tax topics using the Form 1040 chart, with chapter and sections listed right on the tax form. The pages are designed for maximum ease of reading, letting you find your information quickly. The writers have done a superb job of turning the technical, obscure, and confusing IRS publications and instructions into something we can actually read and understand.J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax provides plenty of tax planning tips. Covers tax strategies for students, investors, homeowners, real estate investors, senior citizens, military personnel, expatriates, and the tax aspects of getting divorced.
The chapter on the Alternative Minimum Tax (chapter 23) is the best explanation of AMT that I have ever read. If you have to tackle AMT, this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
Cons:
The biggest drawback to JK Lasser's Your Income Tax is that tax laws change frequently. This is a drawback that applies to all books, not just JK Lasser. To overcome this limitation, the publisher provides year-round updates on the JK Lasser Web site. Accessing their updates requires a separate paid subscription, though.JK Lasser Publication Information:
Full Title: J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2009Author: Barbara Weltman, Editor
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Publication Date: November 2008
Pages: 848
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-470-28002-7
