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#579809 01/21/10 04:40 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,053
Zebra
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Zebra
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,053
Are you ready to do your tax return for this year? I am a perpetual procrastinator, but trying to "start early" this year.

My first step is to gather/sort receipts. What's yours?


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Wolf
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OMG...I'm actually in a panic (If I wasn't so sore from working out) Anyone who has read a few of my posts know that my mom in law has been staying with us. What you may not know is we gave her our bedroom and we moved down into the family room...I keep digressing but to get to the point we packed EVERYTHING up in our room and put them in boxes until she leaves. I CAN NOT FIND my receipts...I need to do my tax return ASAP when I get my W-2 so we can do my daughters FAFSA form... and those receipts are nowhere!!! I know sitting here is not helping me find them, but my mind is whirling while I'm typing "on where can they be, oh where can they be." eek


Dianne Walker

Action Movie Editor
Action Movies Site

How do I relax? I run!
Grandma to Half Marathon
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,053
Zebra
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Zebra
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,053
Oh, Dianne, I hope you find them soon. But, you can still get your return done. Here are some suggestions (This is NOT tax advice as I'm not a tax expert--just some ideas that might help). If you have someone else do your taxes for you, they can probably help you out with more & better tips, too!

If you pay for things by check, debit or credit card, review your statements & try to remember what you bought where & recreate your expense record. This will be easier if you use a separate account for business expenses, of course.

If you don't have a separate account, it will be harder, but if you see you spent $100 in March at Best Buy, it will trigger your memory that that's your new hard drive, for instance. You might lose out on some smaller deductions this way if you typically pick up copy paper at Target along with your groceries, though.

You can also "look around"--what did you buy this year for your business? If you bought a new monitor, but don't remember what you paid, do some online price checking.

It does help to keep a monthly income/expense spreadsheet for many reasons, but this is one instance it could be a big help! If you have one, sweet. If not, think about starting one now for 2010.

Also, review your last year or last few years' tax returns -- if you've been running your business for awhile, your expense trends might be similar. For instance, if you have spent $250 for web hosting for two years in a row, it's a pretty good bet you probably spent about the same.

Some companies can also pull your information for you if you are a regular customer & they keep the records.

Also, if you have any bills where you get online invoices, you can usually still find those--from the company or even in your email archives. Ditto if you bought business stuff online. I buy a lot of business books from Amazon and I can access my orders from them easy-peasy.

And, your calendar can help for some expenses--networking events, for instance--I write these in my calendar so if I needed to determine how much I spent on networking, I could get really close that way. I also record my mileage in there, so that's where I get my auto expense deduction (if you use the standard mileage deduction, you don't need receipts.)

These things can help you get your taxes done if you can't find the receipts soon, AND, you can always file an amended return when you find them! (Well, you have a certain time limit that you can find on the IRS website, but it's pretty long, I think.)

And, last but not least, if you get busy doing these things, odds are you'll remember where the receipts are when you stop thinking about it! LOL--that's how it goes for me anyway!

Much luck on finding them ASAP!



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Wolf
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Thanks Deb. That is a great idea...since bank statements are online now too (originals packed away-where? who knows)
I can check those out.

I'm sure I'll find them. It may be the day after I hit send on my return, but I know they will show up and I can always file an amended return down the road if need be.



Dianne Walker

Action Movie Editor
Action Movies Site

How do I relax? I run!
Grandma to Half Marathon

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