Mar 17 - Ask Maria - Perplexed About Paperwork and Tax Records - GON in 5 Minutes Newsletter - Get Organized Now

Published: Thu, 03/17/22

Get Organized Now!
In Less Than 5 Minutes!
by Maria Gracia
March 17, 2022
getorganizednow.com


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  "JUST ONE THING" You Can Do Today...

Use a long-handled duster to dust cobwebs and dust off a ceiling fan or light fixture.


  Organizing Thought of the Day

Ask Maria:
Perplexed About Paperwork and Records Related to Taxes



A GON Reader Asked:

Hi Maria,

I'm perplexed about whether to make copies of certain records, to file the original in the 'correct' place by category, and to also keep a copy with records collected throughout the year for filing income taxes. When filing medical paperwork for each family member, for those who itemize medical expenses, should a separate copy be kept with income tax records?

I tend to keep paperwork of all items reported on taxes, including medical expense statements, bundled with each year's completed tax forms. This is a risk of inconvenience if the need ever arose to compare a trend over the years of, say, property taxes. That would mean retrieving the property tax statement from each year's bundled tax records.

The reverse risk of inconvenience would be getting audited if you file papers after taxes where they really belong in separate files for property tax statements, interest and dividend statements, prescriptions and medical expenses, charitable giving, etc. An audit would mean gleaning all of those records out of individual files...time-consuming busy work!

What's best?

a. Leave all income tax related records together after filing?

b. File the documents by category after completing taxes?

c. Make copies and file in both places?

d. None of the above - is there another option? Hope you're not going to say digital files!

Sorry for the wordiness. I've just been plagued by this question for years and thought, if I could formulate the question where it made sense, I'd go ahead and ask. Thanks much for any insight! All best.

--Anne

Maria Gracia Responded:

Hi Anne,

My advice to you is to try to keep it as simple as possible. File paperwork throughout the year alphabetized in one file drawer or file box. Separate each person's medical expenses into a different folder (Medical-Sally, Medical-Bob, etc.) Don't make extra copies. Always have one folder labeled TAXES (2022) or whatever the current year is. W2s, 1099s, etc. should be inserted into this folder.

When tax time comes around, transfer all of the paperwork necessary for the accountant from the file folders into separate catalog envelopes and label them on the outside. These will all get returned to you, along with a copy of your filed tax reports, when your accountant is done. If you do your taxes yourself, you can use the same system. All of your file folders will then be empty and ready for the new tax year.

After you've filed your taxes, file everything related to your taxes in a bankers box. Label the box Taxes (and the year). In doing so, all the paperwork is together in that box. Retain each year's tax box for 7 years.

No matter what you do, audits are time-consuming and frustrating, even if you're very organized. The good news is, for most taxpayers, the chance of being audited is less than 0.6%. So hopefully you will never have to deal with an audit. But if it does happen, all of your tax paperwork will be together for each year.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Looking for a simple and effective way to get control of your paper chaos? You're going to love My Oh-So-Organized Filing System!

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  This Week's Recommendation

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  As a GON in 5 Minutes Ezine Member
  Here are your Latest Bonuses...

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    Maria

      Take Action


    ___ 1. Do today's task on my March Monthly Organizing Checklist. The March 17 TO DO focuses on St. Patrick's Day. Visit GetOrganizedNow.com to access my March Monthly Organizing Checklist.

    ___ 2. Use glass cleaner to clean a mirror. I have a secret for beautifully, streak-free mirrors. Visit GetOrganizedNow.com to access my Dirty Little Secret on this topic.

    ___ 3. Send me a short video. I'm building a library of short video clips from people who love this ezine! If you feel so inclined, please send me a one-minute or less video of you describing what you love about this newsletter (GON in 5 Minutes Ezine). In the near future, I'll compile these into one video. Thank you so much for your support and helping me to make the world a more organized place!

      Inspiration


    'We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.'
    --Wernher von Braun


      In Closing


    I'd love to hear from you.

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    And remember...there's no better time to get organized, than to Get Organized Now!

    Warmly,

    Maria Gracia
    Get Organized Now!
    getorganizednow.com



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