Tax Records the Old Fashioned Way

Single Mom Financial Help

This article, entitled Tax Records the Old Fashioned Way comes from

We live in the digital age. We communicate online, purchase online, bank online, file our taxes online, and keep our financial records on our computers. Single moms often forget that there are simpler tools to use to make her tax deductible expense record keeping easy. One of the tools is the checkbook register.

People kept simple records to make it easier to file their taxes long before there were computers that would organize and sort all of our financial data. Many still do it today without even realizing it until the computer crashes and they lose all of their digital information. Envelopes of receipts and the check book register have helped gather the financial information needed to rebuild the documentation of the money spent during the year.

When you spend money on an item that is tax deductible, simply make a check mark in the appropriate column on the register when you fill in the check record. At the end of the year, when you’re pulling all of your tax information together you can reassure yourself that you’re not missing any important receipt. Just go through the register and easily identify the expenditures you made during the year. If there is a receipt missing, request a copy of the check for your records.

Many of us only use the written check register when we’re out and about doing errands, knowing that the receipts from the cash register are easy to lose. We then transfer the information to our computerized records when we get home. If you don’t use the check register that comes with the box of checks from your bank except when you write out a check or swipe your debit card at the checkout line, you can still flag the transaction in the computer program that you use to keep track of the money that you’ve spent.

In the modern world we tend to feel more organized when we use computer programs for financial planning and record keeping. It’s easier to let the program do our math than it is figuring it out on paper. It’s also usually more accurate as long as the data is entered correctly.

But as long as you’re recording the check or debit card transaction in your register anyway, why not just take a second and mark the amount you’ve spent if it’s deductible so that at tax time you can easily find it.

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