Mark Your Calendar – Stay abreast of new developments to wring every possible deduction and credit out of a tax year. Keep good records and stay organized all year long.

Records = Taxes Saved   -- Bad record keeping usually leads to painful audit results. Without clear documentation, the IRS can disallow unproven deductions and credits, which can lead to penalties and interest in addition to more taxes being due.

Make Your System Work for You – People organize things in different ways. Make sure your record-keeping system makes sense to you.

What Tax-Related Records to Keep –

Charitable Giving Information,

Gambling Records

General Financial Documents

Insurance and Medical Records

Receipts for Deductible Items

Self-Employment Records

Theft or Loss Documentation

What Can You Throw Away –

Canceled checks (after three years)

Household bills (after one year, except for home improvements)

Non-tax related checks (like graduation money or rebates on consumer items)

Pay stubs (after verifying the totals with your W-2 forms)

Quarterly mutual fund statements (but keep the year-end summary)

Records for things you no longer own

Tax documents more than six years old (except for real estate you still own)