If you haven't started doing your taxes yet, you are not alone (I haven't either). One of the biggest reasons people struggle to get their taxes done on time (and why many people have to file extensions), is because they don't know where all their tax documentation is. The solution? Declutter and organize your paper clutter with taxes in mind.
Take the following steps if you have a decent amount of paper clutter around the house, are missing some important tax documents, and need to do your taxes ASAP. The main point is to go through all your paper clutter quickly in a systematic way so that you find all the documents you need to do this year's taxes, plus save you time in the future.
If you pretty much know where all your tax info is but have a lot of other paper clutter, OR if you are ready to do a FULL paper clutter (and aren't in a huge rush to do taxes), I have this 10 Step Paper Declutter that may be more of what you're looking for.
Now onto the...
8 Steps to Decluttering for Taxes:
Choose your "Office." If you don't have a clear office space in your house, you'll have to choose the next best thing. Do you have a desk, filing cabinets, corner of the living room, or an extra table? Make sure this space has enough floor or table space to compile and sort all your paper clutter.
Collect all important paper piles & files into this spot. Once you've chosen your "office," go through your home and collect all your mail, random paper stacks, and important documents and put them in your "office." If you have a TON of paper clutter, focus on collecting only the paper clutter that is most likely to have your important tax documents and leave the junk mail and kid's drawings for another time.
Choose your categories. Now, not knowing what kind of paper clutter you have, I can't tell you exactly what categories you should use. But I would recommend at least these 6 categories: Trash, to-do this week, to-do later, this year's taxes, important documents, and other. If you have a lot of one type of paper clutter (such as kids' drawings, greeting cards, or medical bills), I would recommend each of these get their own category. That way you don't have to sort them all out again later (in step 8).
Sort through all your papers quickly AND effectively. Now just pick up one paper at a time and put it into one of your category piles. To be quick and effective, be sure to not deal with any of the papers while you sort. Just put them in the correct pile/category. You'll deal with them in the following steps.
Fully deal with all papers in your "to-do this week" stack. This stack should have bills, kids' school forms, and other important items that are more urgent than doing your taxes. The "to-do later" pile should have other things you need to do but not before taxes. I recommend giving this pile a special spot on your desk or a folder in the front of your filing cabinet. You can start dealing with these once your taxes are done.
Do your taxes! Now is the time. You might have to call up someone if you still haven't found a certain document or look through your emails and computer files. But the majority of the documents should have been found.
Still missing paper tax documents? If you are missing an important tax document still and think it may be around the house. This time bring EVERY SINGLE last scrap of paper you can find to your office space and start at step 3 again. You may need to look in boxes, drawers, bags, the garage, and your car (or even at work).
Digitize, organize, deal with, and file the rest of your paper. After you have submitted your taxes (YAY!), it is time to deal with and organize the rest of your piles and create a system so this doesn't happen to you again next year. If you still have a lot of clutter or want more paper declutter tips read this post. If you have it all sorted and decluttered but aren't sure on how you should file and store it all read this post.
TIMING NOTE: Steps 1-3 should all be done on day 1 in an hour or so. Step 4, sorting through your papers, should start during this time but can be completed later in the day or the following day. Step 5, dealing with your "to-do this week" stack, should be completed within one week of day 1 (done by day 7). Step 6, doing your taxes, should be completed on day 8 and/or 9. It's fine if this takes more than a day. Note that the last step, step 8, is more of a big process than a single step. This is fine to complete over the following month.
If you need some help or accountability so you actually complete this paper declutter process before tax time is up, I would love to work with you. Contact me to book your first FREE meeting with me today!
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