# The Tax Planning and Documentation Module

The FIRM Guide (thefirmguide.com) — companion to The Recoverable Family.
Fill this in privately (any text editor or by hand), then store it in your Vault.


## 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

- Archive Type: 

- Physical Location (if applicable): 

- Locked?: 

- Key or Combination Location: 

- Digital Location (if applicable): 

- Encrypted?: 

- Decryption Password Location: 

- Years on File: 

- Notes: 

### Tax Professional Contacts

- Name: 

- Role: 

- Firm: 

- Phone: 

- Email: 

- Portal or Software Login Location: 

- Notes: 

### Tax-Related Account Logins (record login locations by reference, e.g., a password manager entry — never the password itself)
| 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 Retention Reference — general guidelines; confirm with your CPA for your situation
| 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.

- Tags: 


## 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

- Records Location: 

- Years on File: 

- CPA / Tax Preparer: 

- CPA Phone: 

- CPA Email: 

> 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.

### Additional Guidance