ADHD Tax Season — The Worst ADHD Tax Ever!
We always hear about the dreaded ADHD tax. You know…the thing we end up paying a penalty on because we forgot to do the thing or some other executive function task. But with the United States tax deadline right around the corner, I wanted to address the worst ADHD Tax of all…actual taxes.
I know exactly when tax season approaches. I know the deadline to file. I know all of these things because my mama hated taxes. She took on the responsibility of gathering, sorting, and adding things every year. She always procrastinated and eventually ended up having to file an extension. It was a major stress in our house when I was growing up and I didn’t realize that other people didn’t struggle with this like my mama did.
Fast forward to my adult years as an ADHD coach. Guess who struggles with tax season more than anyone else, ADHDers or neurodivergent peeps with executive dysfunction problems. Here is my breakdown of the helpful tips I have learned over the years.
- Outsource if you can. The best money you will ever spend is hiring someone to prepare your taxes. They are up to date on all the laws and if you ever get audited, they will help you during that time. Also, they can help you create a list of any documents you may need for the year based on your job and the types of things you will need to file.
- Keep your paperwork organized. I keep a large manilla envelope tacked to the wall of my office. If there is a receipt, a paper, or a sacred scroll that I will need for my taxes, it is going in this envelope. I also have a file in Dropbox where I dump anything digital.
- Keep your system simple! At the end of every month, I schedule time on my calendar to check my wall envelope and my Dropbox folder. It makes it easier and less time-consuming to spend 15 minutes a month, checking in and adding things as needed.
We can all get lost in the super complicated systems that look so good on the computer screen but the simplest system is the one that will be consistently done well. So keep things simple and outsource where you can. If you haven’t gotten started yet, it’s okay. April 15 is still a few weeks away. Start collecting your documents, call in help if you can, and remember, there is a reason deadline extensions were invented…it was probably my mama.
