| When preparing your taxes, the goal is | | | | place. |
| obviously to deduct every last penny you can. | | | | |
| Many people are amazingly good at it. Just | | | | 2. Dependent Support. If you claim someone as |
| keep in mind you need receipts for the | | | | a dependent, you may be in for a surprise. |
| deductions. | | | | You need to be able to prove that you provide |
| | | | more than 50 percent of the support for that |
| List of Tax Records To Keep | | | | person. Happily married parents usually do |
| | | | not have problems, but the IRS likes to zing |
| Filling out and filing tax returns is really | | | | divorced parents on this issue. Keep records |
| a quest to conquer the mountain. In this | | | | in the forms of receipts, checks and invoices |
| case, the mountain is your gross income. The | | | | in such a situation. |
| IRS helpfully lets you know this by making | | | | |
| you write it down right away and repeat it in | | | | 3. Home Repair Receipts. No, you do not have |
| various places on your 1040 form. How nice of | | | | to show the receipts each year. The issue |
| them. | | | | really comes up when you decide to sell your |
| | | | home. To cut your tax bill, you should claim |
| To conquer the mountain, you start shaving it | | | | all repairs and improvements you made since |
| down by claiming deductions. The more you can | | | | owning the home. Guess what, you need |
| claim, the better off you are. Some people | | | | receipts to support those claims. In simple |
| have lots of deductions that help in this | | | | terms, save every receipt related to your |
| regard. Others create lots of interesting | | | | home or risk losing the deductions. |
| deductions to do the same. Whatever you | | | | |
| approach, keep in mind you need receipts to | | | | 4. Medical Expenses. Health care costs are |
| support those deductions should the IRS ask | | | | out of control as we all know. If you are |
| to see proof. Here is a list of common tax | | | | claiming deductions related to medical care, |
| records you need to keep to support those | | | | keep those receipts and bills. |
| deductions. | | | | |
| | | | Obviously, there are other areas where you |
| 1. Mortgage Interest Payments. One of the | | | | need to keep receipts, but these are some of |
| great things about owning a home is the | | | | the more common places where people fall down |
| mortgage. Oh, wait. The great thing is the | | | | on the job. In general, you should keep all |
| mortgage interest deduction, not the | | | | the receipts for three years, but I suggest |
| mortgage. To prove the amount you have been | | | | doubling that number. With home repair or |
| paying the piper, you should keep the form | | | | improvement expenses, you need to keep them |
| 1098 you receive from your lender each year. | | | | for five years after you get around to |
| Given the fact the deduction is usually | | | | selling your home. |
| sizeable, make sure to keep it in a safe | | | | |