As we turn into the new year, hope springs eternal. In other news, it is almost tax season. Here are a few hints to help you get ready and keep the pain of preparing taxes to a minimum.

Advice On Getting Ready to File Your Taxes

Well, the holidays are over and the final college football bowl game has been played. It is time to get serious about your goals for 2007. While dealing with your taxes is probably not one of those goals, you need to start thinking about them. If you begin taking action now, you can limit the sting when the deadlines start approaching. Here are few tips to consider.

1099s - If you paid independent contractors for services in excess of $600, the deadline for filing 1099s is fast approaching. It is January 31. Yep, you have to have the form in the mail to them by that time, which means you need to figure out how much you paid to whom and get some forms as well.

Records - Half the battle with tax preparation is tracking down your receipts and records. Highly organized people will have kept them organized throughout the year. Then there are the rest of us. Start getting organized now and you can cut down on the pain later.

Forms - As you know by now, filing your taxes is all about forms. You will need one variation of the 1040 pursuant to your tax situation. You are probably going to also need various schedules and odd forms. While you can print most of them off the IRS site, a few must be tracked down in physical form because the IRS requires they be "scannable" by the IRS computers, the precursors to the SkyNet death computers in the Terminator movies. Nothing is worse than driving around a day before taxes are due trying to find the right forms.

Mulla - After spending more than you probably should have during the holidays, it is time to start thinking about money again. If you are going to owe the IRS, start figuring out how you are going to come up with the cash. The IRS now takes credit cards, but you probably wiped those out during the holidays!

Dealing with your taxes is probably not high on your list of things to do. Much like finding car insurance, it is just one of those things you have to do. Spread the task out over time and it should be less painful than dealing with it at the last moment.