How To Organize Receipts & Records for Tax Filing

With technology gaining new developments, keeping track of receipts and financial transactions for your exempt organization may have become a little easier. Often times you may be given the option to receive your receipt via email or by text message. Although this is convenient, it can become somewhat difficult to keep up with the mixture of printed and digital receipts on top of all of the other paperwork you need when preparing taxes for your organization.

Here’s a few tips on how to get all of your paperwork and that ever-growing box of receipts organized.

Take Inventory

The first step in organizing your paperwork is to assess the types of documents and receipts that you have. Paperwork can be categorized in various ways, including tax filings for previous years; bank or loan accounts or mortgage statements; pay stubs; assets sales receipts of gains/losses (residential property, vehicles, etc.); deduction/expense receipts; insurance; and interest paid/interest deductions (i.e. loan interest).

How Long Should I Keep Receipts?

Don’t you find yourself asking this question a lot? Right before you’re about throw away a receipt you think to yourself, “Hmm...should I keep this just in case?”

The length of time that you keep financial records is based on why you originally needed them. For example, annual tax returns, insurance claims, investments, etc., should be kept beyond tax season. Remember, the ultimate purpose of keeping your records is to have documentation for the IRS.

Audits of tax filings have a statute of limitations that can be extended three years after you’ve filed (or the due date of the tax return), so it is extremely important and beneficial to keep these records for at least three years.

If you do not file with the IRS or they have no reason to believe that a case of fraudulence has occurred, there is no statute of limitation. Because of this, you can keep any relevant tax documentation as long as possible.

NOTES:

• Self-Employed individuals and tax exempt organizations are more likely to be scrutinized and given longer statutes of limitations. If you are self-employed or file for an exempt organization (with employees), keep your filing records for four years.

Organize Your Records

Organization is the key to success here. It’s suggested that you sort financial records and receipts based on how soon you may need them.

Keep up with Active File documents! These include documents that you will actively need in the coming year (i.e. W-2s, expense receipts, etc.). Having these documents in multiple formats, whether it’s printed, scanned, or electronic, is always helpful.

Once you have filed or the tax year has ended, you can safely discard the following documents:

1. Pay stubs 
2. Bank Statements 
3. Receipts (once your taxes have been filed, paper receipts should be shredded)
4. Loan Interest Payments
5. Investment Statements 

Financial records that you do not need in the present moment, but may need to be accessible in an audit, should be kept in a digital format and not in a physical space. Scanned documentation can be stored on your computer or uploaded into a cloud service.

The Easiest Way to File 

Once you’ve organized all of your paperwork, utilize ExpressTaxExempt for your e-filing needs. ExpressTaxExempt eliminates the worry about missing your Form 990 filing deadline! With our simple, interview style e-filing process, you can complete your form and instantly transmit it directly to the IRS.

We offer easy e-filing for Form 990 Series returns (Form 990, Form 990-N (e-Postcard), Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF) so you can quickly file the correct 990 Form for your organization. For more information on e-filing pricing, click here.

Follow the simple step-by-step guide to create your free account, enter basic information about your organization, complete the form interview, review your information and audit report, pay for your form, and transmit it directly to the IRS. The entire process is completed in 5 simple steps!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team of e-file experts at 704.839.2321 for any questions or help with your e-filing experience. We’re available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. You can also reach us 24/7 via email with support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

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Requirements for a Properly Completed IRS 990 Form

Every tax-exempt organization required to file IRS Form 990 or Form 990-EZ must complete Parts I through XII along with a Schedule O and any other schedules applicable to your organization. The same rules apply to tax-exempt groups who aren’t required to file a tax return but choose to do so.

Submitting an incomplete 990 form is similar to filing late - it can cost you thousands of dollars in penalties and late fees or even a loss of exemption status. Here are a few guidelines from the IRS about completing a 990 return correctly.

Signature and Recordkeeping
A 990 form is never complete with a signature - a primary officer that’s filing the form usually signs the return. If you are filing on behalf of an organization, your signature is required along with the primary officer.

Your organization’s records need to be archived and accessible for the provisional administration of the Internal Revenue Code for a minimum of three years - this includes documents supporting an item of income, deduction, credit, or basis of property. It’s also helpful to keep copies of prior year tax returns for future reference or amended filings.

Rounding Off to Whole Dollars
When filing returns and schedules, exempt organizations must round off cents to whole dollars. Increase amounts with 50 cents or higher to the nearest dollar - you can also decrease to the nearest dollar for amounts with less than 50 cents. If you are adding numbers together, you should only round the total sum.

Complete All Lines
You must make an entry for each line that requires an amount or any other information, even if the value is zero. Applicable lines should not be blank unless the instructions expressly say to skip. All Form 990/990-EZ must include a Schedule O which is used to provide explanations or additional information.

Reporting Proper Amounts
Some sections require information you've reported on other IRS forms. If you realize that numbers reported are incorrect, you should enter the correct values on the 990 return and also submit an amended form with the proper information.

The IRS also asks that you not report negative numbers - you should use zero as the value unless the instructions explain otherwise. Report expenses and revenue separately and do not combine related items.

Inclusion of Activities and Items of Disregarded Entities and Joint Ventures
Organizations must report all revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, and net assets or funds of a disregarded entity or shares of the same items from a joint venture, other investment, or arrangement treated as a partnership. You are also responsible for reporting activities of your disregarded entity or a joint venture on the appropriate parts or schedules of the 990 form.

Reporting Information from Third Parties
There are a few sections that request information you may need to obtain from a third party - this can include various things like compensation paid by related organizations; family and business relationships between officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and individual businesses they own or control, etc.

You are responsible for getting and reporting this information. If you cannot retrieve through reasonable efforts or tax extension, you can explain or give an estimate with your Schedule O.

With ExpressTaxExempt.com, our interview-style process seamlessly guides you through each section of the 990 form and automatically generates appropriate schedules based on your answers. You won’t have to worry about questions that don’t pertain to your organization, and at the end, we present your entire tax return with its proper requirements for you to transmit.

Our U.S. - based support team of e-file professionals is available for questions or assistance with accurately sending your 990 tax return to the IRS. Call us at 704.839.2321, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. And we’re also available via email with support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

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