File organization tips
Tax season is when most of us realize we don’t keep our personal papers organized all that well. If you’re pulling your hair out trying to get it all together, here are some tips you can get started on so maybe next year will hurt a little less:
- Every year, take out all of that year’s stuff and stick it in a box you only bring down from the top shelf of the closet once a year for this purpose. That keeps it available, but out of your way. And for most of us, once that calendar year is over and the taxes are filed, we’re done.
- Don’t keep statements that are available online, unless they’re in dispute. Do keep canceled checks (or photocopies the bank sends) unless you have online access to those, too. It can cost money to get new copies made.
- Got a scanner? Make your life really simple! Make a folder on your computer. Inside it make other folders with every category of stuff you file. Scan the documents in there. Then you have easy digital access, you can print off copies when you want, and you can shred things right away. Exceptions: stuff with your original signature. It’s still iffy whether or not courts will accepted scanned documents with original signatures, so I prefer to just keep anything I’ve actually signed. Of course, if it’s just a copy of the document you signed, scan it and shred it.
You should seek professional advice if you have a business or anything tax-funky before you start shredding stuff. The IRS likes original documents going back 7 years or more when they audit (I don’t know about other nation’s taxing agencies) and I have no idea if they’re okay with scans or not. I am so not an accountant, and my taxes are pretty simplistic.
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