Every year the same thing happens. A deadline approaches, and suddenly receipts, bank statements, payslips and letters need to be found, scanned and sent to an accountant or uploaded to a tax portal. Half of them are photos on a phone, some are PDFs in an email inbox and a few are crumpled paper in a drawer. A simple file routine can turn this annual scramble into an afternoon of calm work.

Step 1: Create one folder for the year

Make a single folder named after the tax year, for example "Taxes 2026". Inside it, add a few subfolders that match how your accountant or tax software asks for information: Income, Expenses, Bank, Investments, Property, Medical and Other.…