During the course of an audit or other inquiry, the IRS will deny any income tax deduction if there is no documentation to prove it ever occurred.  So it’s not too early to start organizing and gathering receipts that support 2011 income tax deductions. 

Examples of documentation to retain include:

• Job-searching expenses
• Moving expenses
• Unreimbursed employee business expenses
• Medical expenses
• Travel logs for business, medical and charity mileage

Remember that original itemized receipts rather than credit card statements are the best support documents for deductible expenses.  And the more detail included on a travel log, the better.  Dates, travel destinations and specific mileage amounts are key to retaining valuable mileage deductions.

We suggest getting a head start on your 2011 income tax preparation by creating and maintaining an organized tax document file now.  You’ll be glad you did in early 2012.