What kinds of things are tax deductible and how do you keep track of them?

For my husband's new job as an insurance agent, people have been telling us that there are lots of things that at the end of next year we can deduct from our taxes. I'll go to a tax place to have them do the paperwork part, but how do I know what to tell them to deduct? What kinds of things should we keep track of and how do you do it? Do I keep every single receipt? Do I just throw them in a shoe box or do I need to total them up at the end of each month? Should we just write them down instead? Do I need to keep work related expenses apart from charity donations? Do we need to write on each receipt what it was for and why (like gas receipts that are for work travel vrs. fun travel)? Help! I have no clue!

What kinds of things are tax deductible and how do you keep track of them?
You asked WAY too many questions to be answered on this website. Visit the IRS website and/or go to a tax attorney or preparer. And DON'T listen to what "people" tell you, advice-wise; only you and your husband know your financial situation, and it is YOUR responsibility to maintain your tax records (I'm a little curious: how did both of you handle your taxes before this?).
Reply:It's too general a question to get an answer here. But it might be worth paying a CPA for an hour or so of their time to have them explain what records you should keep and what might be deductible. Basically any expenses that are necessary and customary for his job would most likely be deductible. If he's driving as part of his job he should be keeping a mileage log, showing ALL miles driven every day, and how many are person, how many are commuting (home to the office and back) and how many are business (e.g. out from the office to client sites).





Your charitable donations, and any other itemized expenses that aren't related to business, will show on a different place on your tax return (on schedule A - business stuff will be on schedule C) butyou can keep them in the same shoebox if you want to. It will make things a lot easier if you write on each receipt what it was for.





Gas and other car expense receipts might not be worth keeping, especially if he's using the same car for business and for personal or commuting miles. You have the option of deducting a straight mileage allowance, which generally works out financially and saves you a lot of recordkeeping.
Reply:Read IRS Publication 334 to learn about business deductions.





Also, buy some basic accounting software like Quicken.

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