OUR ROAD TO FULLTIMING
February 7, 2000 - RECEIPTS AND TAX RETURNS
We are progressing, albeit slowly, in our downsizing. I've emptied a closet plus drawers in a dresser in a second room, the sewing room, plus the hall cupboards. This cupboard was probably supposed to hold linens and blankets, but ours was stuffed with junk to throw away and boxes of receipts dating back to 1987. Those boxes brought up a question: how long does one keep these receipts? Obviously, twelve years is not necessary!!!
I went online to http://www.irs.gov and found an FAQ section that led me to Topic 305 "Record Keeping" and Publication 552 called "Recordkeeping for Individuals" that I printed for my own files. Topic 305 basically states that documents supporting an item of income or a deduction on a tax return should be kept for 3 years, as well as the return itself. The publication answers questions about why to keep records and what kinds of records to keep, as well as other situations on how long to keep records. In this time of the computer, I have used Quicken since 1989 for both our household and business checking accounts, so most all of our supporting records are contained there. Also we have prepared our taxes with TurboTax since 1995, so all those records are in our computer. So, it would seem that those boxes of receipts can be tossed in the trash can!!! Yes!!!
In preparing for fulltiming, I believe that we all are really trying to simplify our lives, but we still will have to keep some records for income tax purposes. When we sell the house, the documentation of the sale will have to stored in a safe deposit box or a safe to use in the next tax return preparation. I will then keep those papers with the tax return, as documentation, for 3 years. At least, we all know that we will certainly have a lot less paperwork and record keeping, and I, for one, am certainly looking forward to that!!!
November 1, 1999 THE BEGINNING January 25, 2000 THE DOWNSIZING BEGINS March 12, 2000 THE FIRST "DENT" April 27, 2000 DUMPSTERS, DOCTORS, AND TRUCKS May 24, 2000 OUR TRUCK DECISION July 2, 2000 BITS AND PIECES July 21, 2000 MEDICAL CONCERNS July 27, 2000 STEPS TO A FULLTIMING BUDGET August 8, 2000 OUR TRUCK DELIVERY SAGA September 15, 2000 AN UPDATE ON OUR PROGRESS October 2, 2000 SIX WEEKS TO GO!!! October 15, 2000 MORE HURDLES CONQUERED November 14, 2000 ALMOST THERE!!! December 21, 2000 ELKHART.....FINALLY!!! December 21, 2000 LET THE COMEDY BEGIN!!!