A home disaster can be stressful enough without reconstructing important
records and accounting for belongings. The Internal Revenue Service encourages
taxpayers to safeguard their financial and tax records before disaster strikes.
Listed below are four simple tips for individuals on preparing for a disaster.
- Recordkeeping Take advantage of
paperless recordkeeping for financial and tax records. Many people receive
bank statements and documents electronically and important documents like
W-2s and tax returns can be scanned into an electronic format and stored
on a flash drive or CD in a safe place. Keep it with other essential
documents like home-closing statements, vehicle titles, insurance records
and birth, death or marriage certificates and legal paperwork. Some online
services can automatically back up computer files and store them offsite.
Regardless of how you save your documents (whether it is electronically or
on paper) ensure they are safe from the elements, but also encrypted
and/or locked up to guard against disclosure or theft. - Document Valuables The IRS has disaster
loss workbooks for individuals that can help you compile a room-by-room
list of your belongings. One option is to photograph or videotape the
contents of your home, especially items of greater value. You should store
the photos or video in a safe place away from the geographic area at risk.
This will help you recall and prove the market value of items for insurance
and casualty loss claims in the event of a disaster. - Update Emergency Plans Make sure you have a
means of receiving severe weather information; if you have a NOAA Weather
Radio, put fresh batteries in it. Make sure you know what you should do if
threatening weather approaches or if a fire occurs. Review your
emergency plans annually. - Count on the IRS In the event of a
disaster, the IRS stands ready to help. The IRS has valuable information
you can request if your records are destroyed. If you have been affected
by a federally declared disaster, you can receive copies or transcripts of
previously filed tax returns free of charge by submitting Form 4506,
Request for Copy of Tax Return, or Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of
Tax Return. Clearly indicate the official name of the disaster in
red at the top of the form, to expedite processing and waive the usual fee
for tax return copies.