380 - Creating a Simple System for Filing Taxes

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The older you get and the more #adulting you do, the more you realize there are taxes for</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">everything</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. There are almost as many kinds of taxes as there are kinds of insurance. When I was younger, and taxes seemed easier, I used to do our taxes myself using TurboTax. Now, our finances are much more complicated, and we use an accountant to file our taxes. However, I have a process that lets me get my paperwork ready in</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">three to four hours total!</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I was an in home professional organizer, I saw</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">many</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">people request extension on their personal income tax filings. Not because they didn’t know how to do their taxes. Not because they didn’t have the money to pay the taxes. All because they did not have their tax documentation in order.They have to get their paperwork under control in order to complete their taxes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I want to help you become proactive instead of reactive in approaching your taxes, so today I am sharing some of my own processes for making taxes easy. I always work on my taxes in February (usually during the Super Bowl). Back when I was a</span> <a href= "https://www.creativememories.com/cm/Organize365"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Creative Memories</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">consultant, I learned to organize my business taxes using the</span> <a href= "https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-c-form-1040"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> IRS Schedule C</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">categories. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First, every January 1, I add a green slash pocket to my</span> <a href= "http://sundaybasket.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sunday Basket®</span></a> <span style="font-weight: