Since I am self-employed, I have to keep really good records for my tax return each year. I also organize our personal paperwork throughout the year in various file categories. This makes sorting through and matching up receipts a breeze when it is time to do our tax return. I also use an Excel spreadsheets for several things. I do my business checkbook through Quicken, and I am moving our personal checkbook to Quicken this year. In January, I start going through the files to make sure that I have a receipt for each of my business expenses. I have been doing our tax return since we got married, and I have learned which forms I need to have in hand by the end of January/first of February. I try to get our return filed as early as possible, since we usually get a refund. (Thanks to having 6 children.)
Last year we were audited by the state of NC for the number of dependents we had. I was required to send in a copy of all of our children's birth certificates. We had the same number of dependents the year before, and all 6 of our children were born in NC. And I supplied Social Security numbers on the federal return. And yet the state still had to have documentation. I was not a happy camper, but I complied. If I did not provide the documentation, they would have retained our refund. Nice, huh?
So keep good records for your annual tax return. Keep important papers in a safe location. And finally try not to stress too much when you start compiling all of your information.
This is just my personal opinion/question - but I wonder if the state and federal returns will be audited more for 2008/2009 and in the next few years as government agencies are looking for income at all levels. I would be interested to know if your audit was random or if the number of audits in NC went up for the 2008 tax year.... luckily you had everything at hand and were in the right, so no worries there. Hmmmmm. ;-)
Name: Tami Home: North Carolina, United States About Me: I am a homeschool mom of six children with varied interests. I love my family, and I love to read and write for fun. I also have a homeschool bookstore at http://www.dhss.com.
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This is just my personal opinion/question - but I wonder if the state and federal returns will be audited more for 2008/2009 and in the next few years as government agencies are looking for income at all levels. I would be interested to know if your audit was random or if the number of audits in NC went up for the 2008 tax year.... luckily you had everything at hand and were in the right, so no worries there.
Hmmmmm. ;-)