Letters to the editor should be 350 words or less. Letters may be mailed, faxed, or e-mailed.

Be brief; the shorter your letter, the more it will be read.

Stick to one topic, and state your points clearly.

Begin by saying what you're going to say and end with a conclusion that summarizes what you said.

Support your view with facts or examples. Avoid rhetoric. If you use rhetoric, critics may focus on your rhetoric and ignore your facts.

Do not send a letter until you've reviewed it 24 hours.

• Be respectful. If you think your letter is humorous or clever, then you'd probably better rewrite it. 

1. state your tax-related point or issue
2. state your reason(s),
3. give an example, and
4. restate your point. 

" Do's "

• Review messages before you send them out to make sure you are really saying what you want to say. Get someone else to review your message before sending it.
• Be polite; use "Please" and "Thank You".
• Remember that terseness can be taken as hostility.
• Remember that e-mails are a permanent record.
• Read your e-mail daily. (You may get a message about publishing your letter, which you must answer promptly,) 

 
• Don't send a message when you're angry; cool down, look at the message again, and then decide whether you really want to send it. Most e-mail programs let you easily save a message for sending at a later time.
• Don't assume that the tone of your note will be recognized by a recipient. Often, especially with humor, facial expressions are needed to augment what is actually said to get the proper message across.
• Don't copy an entire, large message in your response just to add a line or two of commentary.
• Don't reply to "all recipients" unless they all need to see your reply.
• Don't type in all capital letters or bold type; this is SHOUTING and is considered RUDE