Tax time can be a tremendous source of anxiety and stress for a lot of people. Questions such as whether car washes can be deducted and how depreciation can be strategically applied in the right way can plague citizens’ minds and cause sleepless nights.
One way to help deal with tax time and to overcome the inherent apprehension that inevitably comes along with it is to, first, take a deep breath, second, get organized and third, go digital. Creating an organized system with a few straightforward categories will help you throughout the year so when it comes time to tackle the forms, you’ve got it all right in front of you.
The first step and one that usually has the broadest foundation is deductions and expenses. This is the folder where you put all the client dinner receipts, cell phone and internet bills, receipts for pencils, pens, and paper as well as any documents that show contributions you made to your favorite charities throughout the year.
The next folder should be where you store information about income. This is where you add your paystubs, bank statements, or any other records that prove any income you have produced for the year. You should also have folders for business tax documents, which can include items such as W-2s, property taxes, and self-employment forms. Lastly, make a folder for investments with retirement contributions to IRAs or other accounts as well as tax-deferred investments, nondeductible investments, and any other taxable investments.
Now that you’ve got the system in place, it’s now time to truly make it easy on yourself. Go digital! The big secret is all those folders don’t have to be physical folders, they can be in the cloud on your PC or even on your mobile device. The trick is to turn all those invoices, receipts, and little scraps of paper into digital files.
The easiest way to do that is scan them all with the Mopria Scan application, which empowers you to scan directly from your scanner or Multi-Function Printer made by Mopria alliance member companies to your Android device. This saves you the hassle of installing apps for every scanner you use and facilitates easy access to your scanned pages for viewing on your Android device’s cloud storage or other applications.
Mopria Scan lets you:
- Initiate scan from the Mopria Scan application
- Initiate scan from other applications: email, file browsers, etc.
- Select scan resolution
- Select color or B/W
- Select scan format: JPG or PDF (other formats scanner dependent)
- Select input type: photos, documents, etc.
- Discover scanners automatically over Wi-Fi
- Add scanners manually using IP address
- Select scan area
- Edit scan file name
- Save scans on the phone or tablet
- Share scans to other applications: email, file browsers, etc.
- Share scans to cloud services: Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc.
- Print scans
With the Mopria Scan app, you can more easily achieve what may be the best way of all to relieve tax time stress—scan your stuff and email it to your professional accountant so they can deal with it!
If you already have Mopria Scan, you should be receiving the update automatically. If you haven’t had a chance to give it a try yet, now is a perfect time! Head on over to Google Play to download Mopria Scan now!
