Whether you’ve just finished your tax preparation regimen or you’re pushing the limits and still gathering your information, you’re likely facing a pile of papers on your home office desk (or perhaps the kitchen table). If you haven’t already gone through the process of organizing your financial records in 2012, now is the time.
In a previous post, I provided financial document retention guidelines that will be helpful in the tax-time clean-up process. When cleaning up the tax mess, here’s what you should keep:
- Records of Income - shred your paystubs once you have your W-2; keep your W-2 with a copy of your tax return.
- Interest, Dividend and Capital Gain/Loss Records – keep until the appropriate 1099 is received. Keep year-end statement for investment accounts to track progress, and purchase confirmations until the investment is sold.
- Charitable Donations and Deductible Expenses – Keep with your tax return.
- Real Estate-Related Papers – keep all records for 3 to 6 years after the property is sold and all taxes paid. Although most real estate sales these days won’t have capital gain implications (current tax law allows up to a $250,000 gain for single filers and $500,000 for joint filers before there is income tax assessed on the gain), you may be able to use a loss on real estate for a tax advantage.
- Tax Returns – Keep them forever.
While it may seem that there are more records you need to keep than those you can shred, remember there are ways to lessen the burden on your space. Personal scanners are inexpensive and can allow you to electronically file and store these important documents; just be sure to back up your files. Or, if your financial advisor has an electronic document management system, he or she may be willing to hold a copy of your records in your client file.
Whether it’s the New Year or Tax Time, or another time during the year that triggers your financial record keeping clean-up, use our easy-to-use record retention guidelines and make it an annual event! You might even consider printing out this blog and filing it away for easy reference when tax time rolls around again.
The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc., and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James.