The important thing is to keep in mind the tax implications of your financial transactions and decisions throughout the year. The tax consequences of a transaction may not always be your primary concern, and there are situations in which a good investment or business opportunity overrides the fact that you will need to pay tax on it. But if you can take advantage of the tax benefits available, without sacrificing other financial benefits, it is worth keeping in mind.
If you are generally good at keeping records, you shouldn’t have any problems when tax time rolls around. If record-keeping is not one of your strong points, you may want to get in the habit of having a place to keep everything, especially receipts, that you think may be needed later, and make a notation on the back as to what the receipt is for.
Do It Yourself
If you paid someone else to do your taxes last year, and you feel you could do it yourself, you can start doing some reading, studying and research now to better prepare yourself to do your own taxes next year.