The Tax Planning and Documentation Module
Where tax records live, how to access them, who prepares them, and how long each document type should be retained — orientation and access, not the records themselves.
Where this Module fits
F-03 Module 3 of 6 in the Financial area — step 3 of 4 on the dependency ladder (System → At-Home → Financial → Estate).
Third — the rolling archive that puts the storage system you built in the System area to work.
Adds to The Secure Guide: Archive location and access, preparer contacts, retention schedule.
Adds to The Family Guide: Archive pointer, years on file, and “call the CPA before responding to any notice”.
Every Module adds one section to each guide — that is how the two guides assemble as you work. See what you're building.
Text file — the flexible one. Use it as-is, paste it into a spreadsheet, open it in any editor, or paste it into an AI tool to reshape the blank form to fit your family: rename a field, add a row, drop one you don't need.
Print / PDF — the ready-to-use one. Print it and fill it in by hand, or choose Save as PDF and complete it in your own offline PDF app. Either way it stays with you — the finished Secure Guide template goes inside your Vault.
One rule: only ever give an AI tool the blank template. Never paste your real information — passwords, account numbers, anything you'd keep secret — into an AI tool, an online service, or anywhere outside your own Vault. Customizing an empty form is fine; filling it in happens privately, offline. That's the same rule this site follows: nothing sensitive ever leaves your hands.
Secure Guide Starter Template — Tax Planning and Documentation
This template belongs in The Secure Guide, stored within The Vault. It documents where tax records live, how to access them, and who to contact — not the records themselves.
Tax documentation is not tax strategy — that is your CPA's job. This record answers the simpler, more urgent questions: what exists, where it lives, and how long to keep it. Taxes are a rolling archive, not a one-year problem — the audit window runs three years, six if income was significantly underreported, unlimited for fraud or unfiled returns — and the quiet failure mode is documentation that exists but cannot be found: the spouse who can't locate three years of returns, the encrypted archive whose password was never shared. Whatever your storage approach — paper, digital, or hybrid — the structure is the same: one container per tax year; only the medium changes.
A tax archive is a complete identity kit — income, employers, account numbers, dependents, signatures — and a leaked one can be mined automatically into a profile that answers security questions. The disciplines this record already prescribes are the defense: the archive encrypted, the decryption password in the password manager, portal credentials treated like any financial login. One addition rides with it: a message or call claiming to be your tax preparer — asking for documents, identity confirmation, or a “corrected” payment — gets the same callback verification as any financial instruction, on the preparer's number from the Family Guide.
Tax Records Location and Access
Tax Professional Contacts
| Account | Platform | Login Location |
|---|---|---|
| IRS online account / Direct Pay | ||
| State tax portal | ||
| Tax-preparation software | ||
| Cloud accounting (if any) | ||
These portals hold years of payment history and filed returns — exactly the accounts a family doesn't know exist until they need them.
| Document Type | Recommended Retention |
|---|---|
| Filed returns | Permanently, if storage allows — seven years minimum |
| W-2s and 1099s | Seven years |
| Charitable and medical receipts | Seven years |
| Property-basis records | Until the asset is sold, then seven more years |
| IRS / state correspondence | Permanently |
| Gift tax returns (Form 709) | Permanently — they track the lifetime exclusion; an executor needs the full series |
Record what was intentionally discarded, too — an executor filing a final return needs to know the difference between lost and discarded.
Family Guide Starter Template — Tax Planning and Documentation
This template belongs in The Family Guide. It provides orientation — where records are and who to call — without containing the records themselves.
In the matching Secure Guide section: archive location and access, preparer contacts, retention schedule.
That detail is what makes recovery possible — and it is protected in the Vault, which opens with The Vault Key. The key is never written here, by design. The people listed on this page know how it is kept, and the steward's job is to keep that path current, so this page never leads to a locked door.
Our tax records are organized and stored as described below. Do not attempt to access or manage tax matters without first contacting our CPA.
Tax Records — Overview
If you need to act on tax matters: (1) Locate The Secure Guide for archive access details and account passwords. (2) Contact our CPA before filing, responding to any IRS or state notice, or making any changes to tax-related accounts. (3) For estate-related tax questions, refer to the Estate Plan Module and contact our estate attorney.
A message or call claiming to be our tax preparer — or the IRS — asking for documents, identity confirmation, or a “corrected” payment gets a callback on the CPA number above, never the number in the message. The IRS initiates by letter, not by phone, text, or email.
Anything this page's reader should know that the sections above didn't ask for — the exceptions, the house quirks, the thing you would say out loud while handing this page over.
For more information on how to use these templates, see The Recoverable Family book.
Worked example — Frank's family
Every spring Frank filed with tax software, saved the PDF to a desktop folder called “Taxes,” and moved on. By the next March he couldn't remember whether the W-2s were saved separately or where the charity receipts went. Sarah knew taxes got filed — not where the returns were, whether a CPA was involved, or that Frank had an IRS payment portal holding years of history. One afternoon fixed it. Sarah now knows where to start.
All details are fictional and illustrative. The assembled example guides live at the example Secure Guide and the example Family Guide.
Secure Guide — Frank's entry
The Tax Planning and Documentation section of the Mercers' Secure Guide:
Tax Records Location and Access
Tax Professional Contacts
| Account | Platform | Login Location |
|---|---|---|
| IRS online account / Direct Pay | irs.gov | Password manager → Financial → IRS — holds several years of payment history; the account Sarah didn't know existed |
| State tax portal | State revenue site | Password manager → Financial → State Tax |
| Tax-preparation software | Desktop + cloud sync | Password manager → Financial → TaxPrep (license under frank.mercer@gmail.com) |
| Cloud accounting | — | None — recorded so nobody hunts for one |
| Document Type | Recommended Retention |
|---|---|
| Filed returns | Permanently — storage is cheap inside the archive |
| W-2s and 1099s | Seven years |
| Charitable and medical receipts | Seven years, scanned at filing |
| Property-basis records (the house; the 2019 kitchen remodel) | Until the house sells, then seven more years |
| IRS / state correspondence | Permanently — there has been exactly one letter; it lives in its year's folder |
Family Guide — Frank's entry
This entry sits in the household reference binder. Where the records are and who to call — nothing else.
Tax Records — Overview
If you need to act on tax matters: open The Secure Guide for archive access, then call Marcus BEFORE filing anything, responding to any IRS or state notice, or changing any tax account. Estate tax questions: the Estate Plan Module + Ruth Alvarez.
Any call, text, or email claiming to be Marcus or the IRS — asking for documents, identity confirmation, or a “corrected” payment — gets a callback at 555-0153 first. The IRS starts with a letter, not a phone call.