Tax Time

The year is flying by so fast, the task of lodging your tax return will be here before you know it!
If just the though of taxes creates images of pulling your hair out and steam pouring out the top of your head,  take a BIG deep breath……..IN………..and…………OUT!
Tax time doesn’t need to be stressful.  If you don’t already have a system in place for all your receipts and documents you can start NOW!

Rather than turning the process into something like a crash course before a big exam, take a few minutes each day or week to put a system in place and keep your records in check.

Planning for your taxes throughout the year will save you a lot of time come tax season. One area in which accurate record keeping can save you time and your sanity is with tax deductions.

You might like to use a basic old fashioned expansion folder, or one simple folder with all your relevant documents and receipts individually clipped together into their relevant groups.

A great tip is to create your own excel spreadsheet on your computer.  It doesn’t need to be anything sophisticated, just a simple running sheet with headings at the top of each column to record your expenses throughout the year.

Create individual spreadsheets for each category ie: medical expenses, child care expenses, incoming and outgoing business expenses.

Set aside a few minutes at the end of each day or week to enter these expenses (receipts) into their relevant spreadsheets before filing them away in your tax folder.

Lodging your tax will be as simple as a quick cross check and handing over your documents and a disc, with your spreadsheets on it, to your accountant!  Sound to easy well it really is!

If you are an excel whizz you can also link these spreadsheet to do alot of the work for you.  There are a number of great spreadsheets online you can also download – at a cost – personally I think there’s nothing easier to maintain than your very own.

Finding the time NOW will save you ALOT of time in the long run!

Hmmmm what will I be spending my tax return on this year……………………?