Go green with your tax receipts

I know all y'all have already taken my earlier post about organizing your tax records to heart and have all your 2009 filing material properly categorized and filed.

Yeah, me neither.

Well, here's one instance where procrastination pays off (but don't tell the hubby that I said that!).

To help you get your 2009 tax records under control and give you a head start on your 2010 taxes, I am giving away a NeatReipts mobile scanner. Readers who've been around for a while might remember The Neat Company provided one of these nifty products last year.

The scanner not only lets you digitize your tax documentation, but it also lets you manage it on your computer.

Take your tax records green: For environmentally conscious tax geeks, this is a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Get rid of all that extraneous paper by substantiating your tax material electronically.

Now someone always asks, does the IRS accept scanned receipts, bills or other tax deduction documents as proof, even (or especially) in the event of an audit?

Yes.

That's been the agency's policy since 1997, when it issued Revenue Procedure 1997-22 as guidance to taxpayers on maintaining books and records via an electronic-storage system that either images hard copy books and records  or transfers computerized books and records to an electronic storage media, such as an optical disk.

Want something more recent? Then check out page 2 of IRS Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals. Under the subheading Electronic records, the IRS basically says electronic methods of tax recordkeeping are just fine as long as you follow the same rules that apply to paper records.

That means the digital images must show the same information as the paper document and you must be able to produce the electronic copies when asked by the IRS.

Enter to win! OK, enough with the background. Y'all just want to know how you can get your hands on this NeatReceipts scanner.

It's easy.

Just leave a comment here at the end of this post, or Tweet me @taxtweet or write on the ol' blog's Facebook wall and let me and other readers know what's your favorite tax deduction.

My fave, for example, is the mortgage interest write-off. It's easy to claim on Schedule A and my lender does all the substantiation work by providing the deductible amount on an annual statement that satisfies the IRS requirements for claiming it.

I'll be taking comments/entries until noon Central Time on Monday, April 26.

You can enter as many times as you want, through as many portals as you wish. Just be sure to include a deduction in your comment, Tweet or wall scribbling.

When it hits high noon next Monday, I'll take the qualified entries and then randomly pick one.

Happy Earth Day and good luck!

DISCLAIMER: I'm not receiving any compensation in any form from The Neat Company in connection with this giveaway. The company is only providing one NeatReceipts scanner, which will be awarded to a randomly selected reader.

Comments

[Katie Luper]

Education credits! Yay for enormous law school tuition bills!!

[Abe]

My favorite deduction is the "one half of self employment tax". It always lowers the taxes for the self employed.

[Revanche]

My favorite has to be the education credits.

[MAC]

Gifts to Charity are great!

[Jimi]

Love that mortgage interest deduction! The property tax deduction is good too.

[Karen K]

My favorite tax deduction: the STANDARD one! Could you imagine if we all had to do Schedule A?

[Nobu]

My favorite tax deduction is (was) the Tuition and Fees Deduction. It's Above the Line Deduction, so you don't need to itemize to get this deduction.

Unfortunately, it expired in 2009.

[Michelle]

My kids are my favorite tax deduction. I do spend more than I save, but isn't that the case with every tax deduction? Plus, they are cute, smart and fun.....which is more than I can say about all the other tax deductions.

[Mary H]

My favorite tax deduction in our over-valued Texas county and school district is the Real Estate taxes. Unfortunately sometimes AMT takes it away from us.

[Joe]

I have to agree with you. The mortgage interest deduction is my favorite also.