Back in January or February when you were getting your tax “stuff” together to prepare your 2009 Form 1040, or to give to your tax professional, did you find that your recordkeeping was less than adequate, and that you had to make estimates of many of your potentially deductible expenses?
If you answered “yes” to this question you should resolve to be more efficient and effective in documenting your deductions for 2010.
You MUST keep good, contemporaneous records of all of your income and deductions in the manner prescribed by the IRS and the Tax Code. This is even more important with certain deductions that require special recordkeeping or additional information, such as business meals and entertainment, business use of "listed property" such as automobiles, cell phones and computers, gambling losses, and charitable donations.
Keep records during the year as if you are going to be audited by the IRS. In the rare case your return is selected for review you will be ready. If you are not audited you will at least be assured that you did not miss any deductions or credits to which you were entitled.
Even if you use a tax professional the more information you provide him/her at tax time the more accurate your return will be, and the easier it will be to properly prepare. And your preparation fee should be reduced.
I have developed a package of advice, information and forms, schedules and worksheets to help make sure that you pay the absolute least amount of federal and state income tax for 2001 - “Documenting 2010 Deductions”.
Click on the above link to learn more about this package.
TTFN
If you answered “yes” to this question you should resolve to be more efficient and effective in documenting your deductions for 2010.
You MUST keep good, contemporaneous records of all of your income and deductions in the manner prescribed by the IRS and the Tax Code. This is even more important with certain deductions that require special recordkeeping or additional information, such as business meals and entertainment, business use of "listed property" such as automobiles, cell phones and computers, gambling losses, and charitable donations.
Keep records during the year as if you are going to be audited by the IRS. In the rare case your return is selected for review you will be ready. If you are not audited you will at least be assured that you did not miss any deductions or credits to which you were entitled.
Even if you use a tax professional the more information you provide him/her at tax time the more accurate your return will be, and the easier it will be to properly prepare. And your preparation fee should be reduced.
I have developed a package of advice, information and forms, schedules and worksheets to help make sure that you pay the absolute least amount of federal and state income tax for 2001 - “Documenting 2010 Deductions”.
Click on the above link to learn more about this package.
TTFN
