Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Editor of TaxationWeb

Introduction

Have you ever been in the position of having too much to do, and not enough time in which to do it? That is a position that many tax professionals (and taxpayers too, no doubt) find themselves in when it comes to technical reading! For the uninitiated, for many 'technical reading' basically involves wading through various tax publications (articles, magazines and sometimes complete books), very often a whole pile of them! If you are in that unfortunate position, yet still required to get to grips with a particular tax subject, 'Tolley's Tax Digest' may well provide some relief! LexisNexis Butterworths sent me some copies to review, so here are my thoughts.

Contents

The best way I can describe an edition of 'Tolley's Tax Digest' is as a mini-book, each edition of which covers a different, specific subject. For example, topics covered in the past include 'Tax-Effective Wills', 'Extracting Profit from the Family Company' and 'Selling the Family Business'. These are fairly mainstream, topical subjects in my day-to-day professional work, and no doubt familiar subjects to many other tax advisers and accountants as well.

There is a new Tax Digest every month. Each edition is approximately 30 pages in length, and written by a leading tax expert, many of them well-known names in the tax profession. Tax Digest is divided into manageable sections, so that if there is insufficient time to read it from cover to cover, it is not too difficult to stop at a convenient point and pick it up again later if necessary.

In the two Tax Digests I reviewed ('Selling the Family Business' by David Whiscombe and 'National Insurance Contributions' by Jon Golding) the text was easy to read and understand, and was punctuated by numerous examples to assist comprehension of the points made by the authors.

Of course, the types of subject covered in each Tax Digest are fairly vast in terms of size and scope. A 30-page Guide can really do no more than attempt to cover the main points and issues on those subjects. However, this must surely be a 'positive' for many busy practitioners. They may well save considerable time reading a Tax Digest compared with scouring their reading 'mountain' for articles or book sections on the same subject! For those seeking in-depth analysis or an answer to an obscure aspect of the subject, Tax Digest will not be a complete answer to their research, but it could well be a useful summary, giving them a 'handle' on the subject and perhaps a starting point in their further research.

Cost

Individual Tax Digests cost £30. However, a twelve month subscription to 'Tolley's Tax Digest' costs £120, i.e. only £10 per monthly copy. This surely represents excellent value, and is probably a major reason why it was recently confirmed as LexisNexis Butterworths' fastest growing tax publication. Watch out for possible special offers on TaxationWeb!

The Verdict

It seems to me that 'Tolley's Tax Digest' is a very time-efficient way for busy practitioners to assimilate many of the key concepts and issues on particular tax subjects. I could envisage tax advisers and accountants browsing through them prior to meetings with clients to revise particular tax matters. Tax Digests are compact and condensed, and pack a relatively large amount of information into a manageable number of pages. Even if a twelve month subscription is not desirable, selecting individual Tax Digests on particular subjects as required is inexpensive in terms of professional publications generally.

In addition, these days, I am finding that many taxpayers are increasingly striving to understand the tax system as it affects them. The large number of people who visit TaxationWeb looking for news and articles for answers and information on particular tax subjects is evidence that this is the case. Many of those taxpayers will find 'Tolley's Tax Digest' a valuable reference guide, and probably more cost effective than buying one or more textbooks or manuals as well.

I find the whole concept of Tax Digests very appealing and useful in terms of size, content, and cost. I am fairly confident that many professionals and taxpayers will draw a similar conclusion. Buy, beg or borrow a copy if you can, and see for yourself!

To Order

Mark McLaughlin
TaxationWeb
August 2005

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