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It is June of 2012 already, half of the year is almost over. In no time, we will see another new year. Time flies and it flies fast taking for a ride along with it. We should always plan and prepare for every possible situation. 2012 Tax season has come and gone but it’s time to evaluate and plan for next year so you don’t have to scramble at the last minute. Being organized and planning ahead can save you time, money and headaches when you have to file your 2013 taxes. Here are 5 quick steps you can follow to make next April 15 easier.

1. Save your Past Return

Always take a print out of your previous tax return and store it away. Even if your system crashes or online site gets shutdown for some reason, you have the hard copy for your reference. Put away your 2011 tax return and supporting documents somewhere secure so you’ll know exactly where to find them.

2. Organize your Bills & Receipts

There are lot of tools like Intuit or Quickbooks which helps people to track their expenses. But I use the simple excel sheet which is easy to maintain and does a good job. But whatever the tool may be, establish a common place/folder where everyone in your household can put tax-related records all year long. You can use Mileagebug App to track your business miles and have it send the report periodically to your email and keep them safe. Just try to follow periodically and be consistent to avoid a scramble for misplaced mileage logs or charity receipts come tax time.

3. Estimated tax payments

I am self employed and pay my estimated tax every April, Jun, September and December(I pay early not April). I have adjusted this year’s estimated payment according to the tax paid last year. If you’re self-employed, you should also check your tax payment to see you overpaid and received a refund or paid penalty to pay more taxes? If so, you should make sure you adjust your estimated payment so you don’t overpay too much and give free money to uncle Sam. You should pay the minimum estimated tax possible without incurring an underpayment penalty. You’ll do so if your estimated tax payments amount to 90 percent of the tax due for 2012 or 100 percent of the tax you paid for 2011 (110 percent if your adjusted gross income is more than $150,000).

4. Retirement contributions

IRA is one of the best tax breaks the self-employed have. If you have Solo 401k which is even better. As you know you have till April 15th of the next year to make your contributions and take deduction for the previous year tax return. Don’t wait that long and try to contribute more now rather waiting till the last minute. This way you will earn more income for longer period which are all tax free. It is always good to maximize your contributions on 401(k) and Roth before finding another avenue for tax free retirement savings.

5. Prepare for Itemized deductions

Many of you use Itemized deductions, Schedule A to take advantage of deductions like mortgage interest, charity contributions and other things. For 2012 this is $5,950 for singles and $11,900 for married people filing jointly. Last year I wasn’t able to do Itemization because I couldn’t go above the standardized deduction amount. If your expenses typically fall just below the amount to make itemizing advantageous, a bit of planning to bundle deductions into 2012 may pay off. May be you can prepay mortgage payment, pre-deadline property tax payments, planned donations or strategically paid medical bills could equal some tax savings. This way you can add up good amount of deductions which can be claimed for 2012 year. Check with your CPA/Tax professional and plan accordingly. If you don’t have one, try to hire one early before the busy tax season starts.

These are the quick win steps to get prepared for the next tax year. Try to start early and you won’t have to file extension next year and can file tax on time.