IRS Offers New Online Help Tools For 2008 Tax Filers

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

07 February 2008

The IRS has this week announced the enhancement of both Publication 17 and Where’s My Refund?, two key electronic tools available on IRS.gov, the official Web site of the IRS.

These improvements aim to help any taxpayer with Internet access find answers to tax questions quickly, prepare returns accurately and file on time.

The IRS revealed on Wednesday tht the online version of Publication 17 now contains electronic links allowing users to more quickly navigate this widely used publication. Both the downloadable PDF and the html version of the 2007 Publication 17 contain more than 800 hyperlinks.

The links allow users to jump immediately to other parts of the publication, reducing the time it takes to access information. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the html version of Publication 17 on IRS.gov is also accessible to visually impaired taxpayers.

The tax authority further revealed that the online refund-tracking tool Where’s My Refund? is now available in Spanish as well as English. Taxpayers can access the Spanish version through either the Where’s My Refund? page on IRS.gov or the Spanish-language portal.

The goal of this new feature is to make tax information available to taxpayers who don’t speak English, or those who know English as a second language.

Taxpayers without Internet access can get the same information about their refunds by calling the IRS Refund Hotline.

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