When tax season ends, many corporate offices and home offices start resembling a pack rat’s paradise. While piled up desks, stuffed drawers, and stacks of digital drives are understandable until you complete your tax filing process, a spring cleanup of records is essential in order to maintain a clean and safe work space. The experts at Crown Information Management offer useful insights on timely destruction of tax documents, including secure shredding of paper records and digital drives.

Tips for Shredding Tax Documentation – Paper and Hard Drives 

You may have to preserve certain documents for several years to be ready for potential queries or audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It is important to know which records you should save or shred. However, once you have identified the documents that are no longer required, do not delay the process of securely destroying unwanted papers, as well as hard drives or thumb drives. With identity fraud being so rampant throughout the U.S., even your most redundant records could be a gold mine for fraudsters or cybercriminals, who are after your PII. This includes your name, address, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), bank account details, passwords and more, which they can use to: 

• Forge or create new identities
• Withdraw money
• Apply for loans and credit cards
• Open utility accounts
• Steal tax refunds
• Receive medical care
• Other thefts or cybercrimes

Duplicate records, dated documents and irrelevant bills and receipts, to expired policies, junk mail and shipping labels, consider shredding every piece of paper and every digital file that is redundant after tax season. Keeping your physical and digital tax records safe and ensuring timely shredding will allow you to:

• Reduce your susceptibility to identity theft
• Avoid the hassles related to lost document retrieval or replacement
• Keep your documents relevant and remain compliant with applicable regulations or industry norms
• Clear up valuable storage space 
• Make your next tax season’s documentation smooth and efficient 

At Crown Information Management, we always urge our clients to identify work habits that increase the risk of identity theft. As experts in secure shredding of physical and digital records, we can help you with both, annual purges and tailor-made document destruction services. With bonded and licensed staff and a state-of-the-art shredding facility, we ensure safe pickup and transportation, as well as secure and permanent destruction of your paper documents and digital drives. 

For efficient and hassle-free tax document destruction at the end of the tax season, rely on a SOC1, NAID AAA and PCI Certified company, such as Crown Information Management. Call 800-979-9545 to discuss your requirements or request a free estimate online.