7 Easy Steps to a Faster Tax Refund
Courtesy of ARA Content

(ARA) - The sooner you get your money back from the IRS, the better, so start now. Get your taxes done faster and more accurately with these seven strategies from Jeff Schnepper, author of the best-selling "How to Pay Zero Taxes" and a tax expert for MSN Money.

1. Get started

The first step is the hardest. Stop thinking about it and get moving. Until you actually start your return, you'll never get to finish it.

If you don't have all your numbers, just put your name and address on the form. It will get you in the mindset to move forward. Your first step is to break the inertia.

2. Accumulate the data

By the end of January, make sure you've gotten W-2s and any statements from your brokers and banks. You'll receive 1099 Forms for any interest, dividends, and sales of stock. Your mortgage company will send you a Form 1098 for any interest and real-estate taxes paid. Get those statements together and review the numbers. They're not always right.

3. Put the numbers in IRS categories

Neither the IRS nor your CPA is going to add up those numbers for you.

You're going to want to have totals for the income and deduction categories the IRS provides. You'll need that final "number" if you're doing your own return, whether by hand or by computer. If you're having your return prepared, you'll want to give that number to your CPA to minimize his or her bill.

A good way to get organized is to use the "envelope" system. Create an envelope for each of the IRS income/deduction categories. There'll be an envelope for medical expenses, charitable contributions, job expenses, interest paid, etc. Find all the receipts, all the checks, all the invoices and put them in the appropriate envelope.

You can use this simple system all year. Throw all of your receipts into a file or even a shoebox. When you reconcile your checking account, on a monthly or at least a quarterly basis, you break down the checks and receipts according to the categories you selected.

By the end of January, you should have had all your checks and receipts broken down in each envelope by deduction category. You add up the receipts and checks (don't double count!), and that's the number you use on your return or give to your preparer.

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