This article is for general explanation and education. It is not specific tax, legal, or investment advice.
Before considering acting on anything you’ve read, first consult with your tax, legal, or investment advisor.
Are you a person who meticulously collects every receipt and keeps careful track of all important documents and income records? Or are you a person whose busy life might cause keeping tax records (there’s no shame, it’s easy to do with our current culture of fast-paced lifestyles). Either way, organizers can be a great tool for you! We send organizer packets to current clients at the beginning of the New Year to help lay the groundwork for our tax preparation.
So why do we send them every year? Because it’s an easy place for our clients to start preparing to have their taxes done! The organizers are a compilation of your data from the previous tax year. They reflect what documents you have previously provided, the amounts used in your tax preparation, and ask about general life-events that may impact your return. There are also pages where you can review your contact information, your direct deposit information, check to make sure that your dependent’s information is correct, and update us on any changes.
So while that white packet can be intimidating by its thickness, its many pages, and what seems like countless words, it has valuable information for both the taxpayer and tax preparer. While reading every word on every page is not necessary, knowing what each page contains is valuable. Then you can make the choice of what information you need to obtain and what information we will need to update. This year, additionally, we are including letters to our clients to go over some changes in our office building and how we practice.
The benefits and uses of organizers being stated, they have their limits as all tools do. They only work as well as they are designed and as they are used. They also cannot necessarily outline or plan for every important life event that may have an effect on your taxes. If you have a document or information regarding your taxes or tax changes please let us know: add in the document, send us an email, put a note with your tax documents, etc. We hope this information is helpful and enlightening. May you all have an abundant year.