Organized A to Z Blog

Tips For Tax Preparation

March 1, 2010

If you’re like most people, you’ve been procrastinating on getting your taxes done and are feeling the weight of it on your shoulders. If you don’t have any systems in place, the weight is even greater. Here are a couple of tips to make your tax preparation a little more bearable.

Receipts you don’t need to save: If you itemize your medical expenses, you may be trying to keep track of all those pesky prescription drug receipts. An easier way to deal with prescription receipts is to go to your pharmacy and ask for a printout of your 2009 year prescriptions. They can do one of each member of your family and the entire year will be calculated for you. Now you have one less thing to file all year long!

Tracking vehicle mileage: Most people aren’t real motivated to write down their mileage every time they travel for a business or charity event. Here are a couple of other options you may find appealing. I write all my appointments down on my calendar (Lord knows I’d never be able to keep track of them all if I didn’t). At the end of the month, I add up my mileage with the assistance of my calendar and GPS. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to add it up for the month.

Another option for technology lovers is downloading a mileage app like milebug to your phone. Milebug is available for iphones and costs $3.99.

Self purging folders: Most accountants agree that you need to save documentation and receipts for 7 years in case of an audit. Here’s an easy way to stay on top of that. Buy 7 identical poly expanding wallets . Using a label maker, label each one for 7 years. On the eighth year, pull the label off the first file and shred it’s contents. Replace with a new label and paperwork for the current year. Continue the process year after year.

Thanks to Organized A to Z partner Susan Stewart of Perfectly Placed for contributing this article!

Filed under: Business,Office,Organizing Tips,Paper Management,Record Keeping