Tax preparation can be more easily managed with a few short cuts. Two of these include finding your paperwork online and itemizing donation receipts all year long.

 

Online access to tax documents

Access your important documents online.  It makes it easier than waiting for these documents and easier to find rather than sorting through piles and piles of paper.  The key is to know what to find. The documents include 1099s for income and dividend, mortgage interest and other loans expenses paid, and property taxes paid as a deduction.  These are available at your investment company, mortgage provider and from your employer.  You can find these quickly and print these yourself.

 

Donation receipts

Throughout the year you donate your cast off goods to a variety of charities. Simplify your donation list with these donation price guides. Both guides are accepted values by the IRS for use.

According to the IRS documentation, “you may deduct charitable contributions of money or property made to qualified organizations if you itemize your deductions.”  Itemizing is including a list of the items you donated, as well as their value. The value must be “good” to be an acceptable donation. Qualified items include clothes, household goods, furniture and miscellaneous.

 

https://satruck.org/Home/DonationValueGuide

 

 

https://itsdeductibleonline.intuit.com/

 

 

Keep your lists all year long with the donation receipt in your Taxes 20XX year in your files or in your command center.  It is an easy way to break your tax preparation into chunks and make it simpler to be ready to file your taxes.

Get a checklist

Get organized with a checklist. It is the list of what you need and how to find it.

• This list is available online from H&R Block.
• This list is available online with a video from Turbotax. 
• Many tax accountants provide this with your preparation.

A check list makes sure you have all the documents when you file.

 

Tax season fills us all with a sense of “just one more big thing to do.” Get your taxes ready and filed more easily with small, manageable chunks.

 

 

Learn more about making tax preparation easy here!

Learn more on YouTube about your paper processes!