Be a good scout at tax time

and entertainment.

Be prepared. This maxim emblazoned in Boy Scout lore also applies to the thorny annual chore known as “doing my taxes.” It’s never too early to prepare for filing your income tax return. The simple system of keeping receipts and monthly statements can save you a lot of aspirin at filing time. It can also cut down on your cost of tax preparation, because the less time your tax preparer has to spend on your return, the lower the bill.

Three basic items will help establish a workable record keeping system:

• Your checkbook register.

• A clutch of file folders for financial statements and receipts.

• A workbook to log any business-related expenses, such as mileage, subscriptions

If you’re self-employed, keep a daily log of activities — phone calls, appointments and lunches, for example. It needn’t be complicated, just a simple list to corroborate your checkbook register entries and credit card statements.

Your tax preparer can advise you on how to make this basic program work best for you. They might suggest you update your files monthly.

It’s always wise to call your tax accountant early because the rules keep changing. By starting early, you’ll be aware of what you’ll need to wrap up your current year’s tax filing.

Remember that banks, bosses and brokerage houses — almost anyone paying you an income of any sort — reports these transactions to the Internal Revenue Service. The agency gets all these notices and its computers try to match up the information from these sources with the information you prepare and file.

Besides staying ahead of the game by being prepared, keep in mind the IRS makes mistakes. It’s easy to foul up a Social Security number, for example, and you might get an IRS notice based on garbled data.

One tax preparer often recounts an incident in which a bank’s report to the IRS of a customer’s mortgage interest payment was read as interest income. The taxpayer was then notified by the IRS of a disparity in tax owed to the government because of this “additional income.”

If you receive any notification from a taxing agency, check all the items listed and turn the matter over to your tax preparer. If a simple reply letter can solve the matter, send the letter yourself to save tax preparer fees.

Senior Assisted Living

Q. Do you know about the Enlivant approach to Assisted Living?

A. We are dedicated to partnering with you to provide quality care for your loved one, which is just one of the reasons Lake City Place is a preferred choice for assisted living.

Lake City Place offers compassionate care with support for activities of daily living (ADLs) in an intimate community setting. We provide attentive, individualized care that enables residents to thrive in body, mind, and spirit. For every new resident, we complete a thorough health assessment, which provides the starting point for an individual care plan. In every assisted living community, care is delivered by a full-time registered nurse and a team of Resident Care Partners. Our communities are staffed around the clock, and the registered nurse in each assisted living community is available 24 hours a day to provide clinical oversight and coordination of care.