Last weekend my husband sat down to do our taxes.\u00a0 Yes, it\u2019s that dreaded time of year.\u00a0 Some of you might have already filed them \u2013 I know many people who do it within in the first month or two of the year, eager for the refund.\u00a0 Then, others put it off, searching through mounds of random papers looking for all the receipts and other relevant information.\u00a0 From what I see, whether you\u2019re relatively organized or not, it\u2019s not something any of us look forward to.\u00a0 Despite this, if we can be organized, it can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with this process.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always been a big proponent of making a specific place to hold all the tax information \u2013 a place where you can put it over the course of the year \u2013 knowing where to get it when it\u2019s that time to deal with taxes.\u00a0 This can be a file or a box, it doesn\u2019t matter as long as you put the papers there consistently and avoid putting other papers in that same place.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made files with upcoming years on them so I don\u2019t even need to think about making another file and every time I get to filing papers, I put them in their correct spot.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s one exception to this for me \u2013 the medical expenses.\u00a0 In years past, I\u2019ve had an envelope that lives by other frequently used papers in a desktop file sorter, where I can add to it easily.\u00a0 Then, before my husband does taxes I pull out all those receipts, divide them into categories, and add them up \u2013 giving my husband that grand total on what we spent on doctor visits and prescriptions.\u00a0 Because of the way I\u2019d set it up, I\u2019d need to add the numbers multiple times, making sure I\u2019d not entered one (or more) of them incorrectly. Toward the end of this year, I decided to make a spreadsheet for medical expenses; columns for the categories and let the computer do my calculations.\u00a0 I still need to make sure the numbers are entered correctly, but I make a little effort throughout the year, and it\u2019s that much easier when it\u2019s time to do taxes.<\/p>\n
Do you have papers that are important for taxes yet also relevant for other activities?\u00a0 Although not everyone has this to deal with, businesses and those who volunteer extensively are commonly faced with this. It might be \u201ceasiest\u201d to make duplicates \u2013 then you can have one copy with tax information and the other copy with the other relevant papers.\u00a0 Even I cringe at that \u2013 who really wants MORE papers to deal with?<\/p>\n
As with any organizing, the bottom line is being able to find it when you need it and having a system for tracking what you need.\u00a0 If you file those papers with the relevant papers and forget that at tax time, you\u2019ll be unhappy.\u00a0 Also, as with most things, there\u2019s multiple ways of dealing with these dual use papers.<\/p>\n
When will you use those papers next?\u00a0 Are they something that you\u2019ll need next in September?\u00a0 Put them with the relevant papers.\u00a0 Rather, will use them next for taxes?\u00a0 Put them with the taxes.\u00a0 After you\u2019re finished using them for their next purpose, move them to the next place they\u2019ll be used.\u00a0 Part of how this can work is to make a note for yourself and put in the opposite place from where they\u2019re stored, telling you that these papers are important and then where to look to get them.\u00a0 Once taxes are completed, papers you\u2019ll refer to for their other purpose can live with that related information.\u00a0 You\u2019ll only need access to them from a tax standpoint in case you\u2019re audited.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re computer savvy, you can make a file \u2013 spreadsheet or document.\u00a0 If you just need the totals of your different receipts, it can be easy to enter that information and even track it from year to year.\u00a0 It\u2019d be more concise and immediate to have just that information you need in a computer file.\u00a0 This does mean that you\u2019d need to be consistent in adding the information into the file.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not too late to decide on and create a system for handling all the tax documents you\u2019ll need for next year.\u00a0 Think about where you struggle \u2013 what papers do you waste time searching for? Why those papers?\u00a0 Brainstorm ways to cope with how they interfere with your system.\u00a0 Let it evolve.\u00a0 My medical receipts lived in an envelope for years before I decided to add them to a spreadsheet throughout the year, making my life and the taxes easier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Papers are one of the hardest things to deal with, and tax time brings this to the forefront. It\u2019s never too late to decide on a system for dealing with tax papers and implementing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,8,18,5,20,25],"class_list":["post-396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizing","tag-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-goals","tag-household","tag-paperwork","tag-postaweek2011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-6o","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions\/398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}