What reciepts do i keep?

Question

i have recently moved out on my own and have never done taxes before in my life.....what do i need to keep? any other tips to go with that?

Answer 1

The reciepts you would need to keep for income tax purposes would be those related to medical expenses, gifts, unreimbursed job expenses, property taxes, and mortgage interest.  Then in order to use them you would have to itemize instead using the standard deduction (which was $5,350 for filing single in 2007).  Obviously if the reciepts are less than that you won't need them.  Plus there is a limit on how much you can itemize.  For instance, medical expenses have to be over 7.5% of you income before you can include them.

Unitl I bought a house I never had enough to itemize, and thus never needed to keep my reciepts.

Answer 2

Get a filing cabinet and save all major bills....mortgage/rent payments, monthly utilities, pay stubs, charity donations, major applianances/purchases, banking and credit card statements.

As for items like clothing, food, small misc, items, etc.  I only save them until the return policy is up just in case I need to return something.  Or I wait till I get my credit card statement so I can double check that everything matches up.

Taxes aren't that complicated to do especially if you are single and don't have any children.  Most of the information your employer will give you at the end of the yr...but it's still good to keep paychecks and stuff.