The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tax Breaks and Deductions

Rating:
Summary: Tons of useful information for a small price
Review: Before I had even finished skimming "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tax Breaks and Deductions" I found it was so useful I sent an email to a friend who was starting a small business and suggested she buy it.

Lita Epstein has put a TON of useful information in a small package that is well organized for finding answers to your questions.

Kirk Lindstrom
Editor "Investing - Personal Finance" @ www.suite101.com

Rating:
Summary: Good for General Information, But Isn't Up-to-Date
Review: Epstein has an ambitious goal: to produce a tax book that lives beyond April 15th as a handy guide to tax planning. Epstein is only partially successful. Information on various tax credits has been made less useful by numerous changes in the tax code. Her information on the tax aspects of divorce and running a business are much more useful and perennial.

Pros:
Unlike tax books which are outdated as soon as April 15th has come and gone, Lita Epstein's book promises to be a perennial guide to tax planning. Unfortunately, Epstein is challenged by the same problems that plague all tax books: an ever-changing tax code. Nonetheless, the basics of tax planning aren't going to change anytime soon, and so Epstein's book is a good place to start for information on personal exemptions, standard and itemized deductions, tax credits for children and education, tax planning and retirement, taxes and divorce, and various business expenses. Excellent binding (hasn't fallen apart yet, despite constant reference), excellent page layout, and helpful index.

Cons:
Many of the rules surrounding various deductions, tax credits, and retirement savings change every year, which makes tax planning harder than preparing your tax return. As such, anyone looking for information on the personal exemptions and tax credits would do well to look at more recent books, websites, or IRS instructions.

Very Minor Problems:
At first glance, the two tables of contents confused me. I can see now, that one is a quick overview of the book, and the second is a more detailed table of contents.