John Josephson (Ohio State) has asked me about the U.S. income-tax status of newsletters such as this. I'm not a tax expert, and I don't know whether tax issues differ for professional society memberships and for newsletters. However, there seem to be two bases on which to claim a deduction. An educational deduction may be claimed for training necessary to keep current in your own field (but not for training needed to switch fields). A business deduction may be claimed for any expense incurred to make income, or in reasonable expectation of profit. General-circulation magazines such as Inc. are usually not deductible, but financial newsletters may be if you use their advice to guide investments. Conference fees and professional-society dues are often deductible. Consultation with tax or legal professionals about business matters is almost always deductible. (The amount of help actually received is relatively unimportant.) Whether membership in Computists International is deductible would thus appear to depend on how you plan to use the service.