Receipts can be an extreme annoyance in this electronic age. When it comes to taxes, it is important to have documentation supporting any deductions you make on your tax return. For one, it may be hard to remember just how much you spent when you actually sit down to do your taxes. Also, if the IRS were to audit your tax return and you don’t have anything to back up a particular deduction then you could lose it and have to pay interest and penalties as well as the owed tax. Finally, your tax preparer may ask you a question on a deduction that you didn’t know existed, if you haven’t tracked those receipts then you could end up not being able to claim it. One example of this could be that load of junk you took to goodwill. Did you know it could be tax deductible? Americans are allowed to deduct up to 50% of their income from charitable contributions. Make sure you ask for a receipt and a valuation record on any household items you may give to charity.