Tips for Tax Procrastinators: Set aside some time for your taxes

Part of getting your taxes done is just taking the time to actually do them. You and your taxes need some quality time together in order to get the task done, so try to set aside some time to focus. There is nothing worse than trying to organize your tax documents with a bunch of distractions.

You don't have to do it all at once, but offer yourself blocks of uninterrupted time (maybe in 30 or 60 minute increments) to work on the taxes without television, telephone, email, kids, or other distractions. You'll find that you're much more productive and efficient when you can focus, and your chances of making mistakes go down too.

It's also much easier for you (or your tax preparer) to do the taxes if everything is all together. There's nothing more annoying than finding missing documents here and there. If you can spend some focused time on your taxes, you're much more likely to be able to gather all the important items prior to doing the tax returns.

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Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.