You've went all year waiting to file your taxes, but now that it's time, you can't remember where you stashed all those receipts you need to provide proof for your fuel expenses.  If this sounds like you, there's no need to fret.  Simply keep these last minute income tax filing tips in mind and you'll not only lessen your stress, but you can also save money on your taxes.

Gather the documents you need

If you're self-employed, you'll need 1099s from your clients.  However, even if you don't get one, you can still report the income.  Simply tell your tax accountant how much your total income was and he can figure your taxes for you.  If you're not self-employed, make sure to bring all of your W2s with you to your tax appointment.  Other important documents to bring include:

• Out of pocket medical expenses paid
• Job-related expenses
• Failure to pay documentation (where clients failed to pay you for the services you provided)
• Savings and retirement account information

Don't forget student loan expenses

Did you pay interest on a student loan? If so, you need to let your tax accountant know how much interest was paid.  This amount in itself can bring forth huge tax savings.

E-file

Want your tax refund fast?  If so, take comfort in knowing that 90 percent of tax filers are going to receive their refunds within 21 days after filing as long as they e-file.  This means if you want your tax refund fast, you need to e-file, too.  All this requires is that you allow the government to deposit your refund into your checking or savings account automatically.  Its as simple as that.

Workers' compensation requires an end of the policy year audit to assure proper premium is charged. This process protects both the insured and insurers. Think through this process to make it easier, and cost saving. First, choose a policy year that creates an easy audit. The calendar year works for many companies. You already must report payrolls to the US government, the paperwork is essentially done. Calendar quarters work for the same reason. If you prefer to use your corporate tax year, go ahead. If you complete quarterly profit and loss, you can use a financial quarter. But choose an annual period which already has an audit trail. Keep payroll records separate for each workers' compensation classification. Normally, this record keeping is straightforward. The same people specialize in certain tasks: clerical, sales, labor, or drivers. Some operations can be more complex. If labor crosses from one specialty to another, perhaps a carpenter helps pour a concrete slab, that payroll should be split on an hourly rate. The higher rate applies otherwise. Demand any subcontractor, for example a hood cleaning crew for a restaurant, provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI). Technically, insurance companies can charge for the payroll portion of any contracted work in the absence of a COI. If you use to a non-covered contractor, keep those records to properly assign a discount for premium. Lastly, keep records to isolate overtime pay. Overtime payroll receives a discount for premium purposes. Make audits easier. Choose a convenient policy period. Keep records for independent contractors with COIs, and payments to those without. Isolate overtime pay. Segregate individual payroll by classification if that individual works in multiple job descriptions. Your premium will be more accurate with a minimal additional management effort. And, the default position is always to increase payroll, and therefore, premium.

Given the ever expanded concept of what constitutes a disability, employers will continue to face an ever growing compliance challenge. Here are some basics to be remembered:

1. Knowledge of the need to accommodate an employee can come from numerous sources including a work comp claims manager, a company supervisor or manager, HR, the employee themselves, a union rep, a doctor, poor performance, simple observation, or some kind of hotline call.
2. To have a good process, it must be laid out step-by-step with supporting documentation.
3. Be interactive. Remember the rule that the first to give up on the dialogue process generally loses.
4. Have appropriate education and training. For example, HR could create a simple video to help employees with the accommodation process.
5. Allow managers to engage in simple, easy and quick accommodations.
6. Proper documentation of all steps in the process.
7. Ongoing communication, monitoring, feedback, and improvement.

The accommodation process begins with a needs assessment. This means a thorough review of the job description and duties and a clear understanding of the employee's limitations including potential absences etc. Remember you can accommodate an employee by the following means:

• Changing facilities or equipment
• Job restrictions
• Modifying schedules
• Modifying a test, training, or policies
• Offering vacant positions within their skill range
• Offering temporary positions (the ADA does not require you to create a new position for an employee)
• Support including readers, interpreters, or even dogs
• A leave of absence
• Any other idea that would generate a reasonable accommodation

Proper documentation of any undue burden

One of the biggest mistakes an employer makes is to assume in advance that an accommodation would create an undue burden. If the request is reasonable, the best approach is to let them try it and to be clear about performance standards. Document any shortcomings their accommodations may be causing and continue to communicate about ways to elevate them.

There is extensive material on the ADA on HR That Works including flow charts, checklists, forms, and policies to use. There is also training you can provide your managers (a good idea). Also remember if you have over 50 employees the FMLA may allow an employee who has serious medical condition up to 12 weeks of leave which they may use instead of accepting an accommodation.

People are losing jobs to robots and technology at an accelerating rate. Have you used one of those self-serve checkout stands lately? One was installed at my local CVS only 3 months ago. Awkward at first but seems like old hat now. The manager there told me the new system allowed him to let two full time clerks go. Two jobs lost to robots and their technology that will never reappear. Here's just some of the other jobs that are suffering the same fate as retail clerks:

• Pharmacists
• Soldiers
• Reporters
• Drivers
• Fast food workers
• Assembly workers
• Bank tellers
• Secretaries
• Stock traders
• Warehouse workers
• …and there is more

Technology alone changes the employment landscape. Objects like the iPhone have the consequence of laying off Kodak workers, as well as workers in the mapping, printing, alarm clock and record industry. I recently listened to an interesting podcast (all Radiolab podcasts are interesting!) about work in a shipping warehouse for online mega-providers, such as Amazon. If you thought stop watches were banned in the workplace at the beginning of the last century, guess what – they're back! Technology, along with its gamification, is reducing worker output to a competitive logarithm using the most minute of performance indicators. Years ago Buckminster Fuller (otherwise known as "Bucky") surmised that the rise of computers and technology would bring use to a place where it is inefficient to have full scale employment. It would actually be cheaper to pay people to stay at home.  And we are getting there. Even in a "good" economy we have 7% unemployment. And we are being asked to pay for those folks who have to stay at home…because there are no jobs. This has more to do with the macro-economics of production than it does anything a politician can influence. While Bucky believed that less is more, most folks don't think that way. In their idleness they will want to be serviced, entertained and otherwise cared for, by a growing service class economy. So the fantasy of growing the middle class back to where it was before all these technology changes is a pipe dream. A political football divorced from reality. There will be a continued division between highly paid knowledge workers and low paid service workers. Sooner or later we will end up paying service workers to stay home or do some form of public service. As we march forward you will either be a highly paid knowledge worker who cannot yet be replaced by a machine or a low paid service worker who cannot yet be replaced by a machine. That's true for your kids' future too! FYI – Looks like John Henry would be out of a job today. Now trains lay their own tracks http://www.wimp.com/traintrack/

You know you should probably get disability insurance at some point. After all, you never know when an accident or illness will make it difficult for you to work. With both short and long term policies available, however, the choices can be confusing. Knowing the differences between these polices will help you sort out which one is better for you. The Long and Short of It  Short term disability is insurance that kicks in once you have exhausted the sick days available from your employer. Though policies vary, short term disability typically last about six months. While you might see payments that are nearly the same as your usual salary early on, they are often reduced to a percentage of that amount within a few weeks. Long term disability is designed for those catastrophic events that have the potential to mark the end of your paycheck-earning days. In many cases, long term disability begins when short term policies end. While some plans last only five to ten years, a more viable long term disability insurance policy lasts at least until you are 65 years of age. You Need Both for Complete Coverage  Given the overview outlined above, it is easy to see the place for both types of insurance in your life. Short term disability insurance is the ideal way to ensure coverage if you come down with pneumonia that sends you out of work for two weeks when you have already used up nearly all your sick days. Long term disability insurance is vital if that bout of pneumonia turns out to be a more serious illness that requires extensive care that could result in you being out of work on a permanent basis. Protect your assets and your family by ensuring that you have the necessary insurance coverage should you find yourself unable to work.

Spring is a popular time for adding to your home in the form of remodeling or putting up an addition. If you are like many people, you hire someone to complete the job for you. For most people, it is easier and faster to interview and hire a contractor to do the work instead of trying to muddle through it yourself. Peace of Mind With the Professionals  One of the reasons for hiring a contractor to build that much-needed addition to your home or to remodel your outdated kitchen is to ensure that the job is done right the first time. Unless your career requires you to know the latest building codes, it is unrealistic to expect that you do so. Instead you rely on your contractor to know -- as well as follow -- the safety regulations put forth by your particular locality. The Responsibility is Yours Even though the contractor you hired is doing all the work, it is ultimately your responsibility for what occurs with your home. This is not to say that you are in this alone. Rather it is to caution you to be aware of the risks you face if your contractor does not follow the applicable codes when doing the work you authorized. This is one reason to use only those contractors who are licensed, bonded and insured. Protect Yourself  One way to protect yourself is to check for the necessity of permits before allowing the contractor to start working. Request to see the permits if the contractor obtains them for you. Speak with your insurance agent to determine if additional coverage for the work is needed as well.

Whether you are a collector of fine art or you have a garage full of vintage cars that are the envy of the neighborhood, you likely added them to your homeowners insurance when you purchased them and thought your job was done. After all, in the event of a catastrophic event -- fire, flood, burglary -- you thought your items were fully covered. It is worth delving more deeply into this subject, though, because you might be surprised to learn that your current insurance policy is not providing you with the coverage you thought it was. Riders for Special Items When you insure items that are extraordinary, your regular insurance simply might not provide enough coverage. Its limits could be far less than what the item is worth. Instead, ask your insurance agent about a specialty rider that is geared only toward that specific item or collection of items. Depending on the details, such a rider could cost you a few hundred dollars more for your insurance. The peace of mind you gain by adding such a rider is well worth the extra cost. Reappraise Extraordinary Items Before your fine art or jewelry was insured, you had it appraised to determine its value. Reappraising items such as this at least every two years helps keep your insurance on pace with their value. Most high level possessions continue to climb in value which means they could easily outstrip their levels of insurance coverage if you do not keep tabs on it. Regular appraisals will help ensure that inflation and valuation are kept to current levels in the event of a loss.

When you purchase homeowners insurance, you probably think that all the items in your home and on your property are afforded the same type of coverage. While this is true of most things that can be classified as everyday items, some of your other possessions might not fall into that category. In some cases, they might be insured but not enough to allow you to fully recoup your loss. In other cases, though, your items might not be covered at all. Vehicles of All Types Antique vehicles and other vehicles that you drive only occasionally might be covered under certain conditions on your homeowners insurance. Without specialty insurance, though, you will not recover their replacement value. ATVs, motorcycles and other recreation vehicles also need their own specialty insurance so that you can recover all of the money that they are worth. Flood Insurance Another item that people assume is covered under their homeowners insurance is flooding. In nearly all cases, though, flooding is not typically covered unless you have this particular specialty item as part of your regular coverage. Collectibles If you collect stamps, fine art or another collection of value, you might think that these items are covered under your homeowners insurance. Without specialty item coverage, however, that specifically denotes which items are being covered, you could find out too late that they are not. For collections that have a significant value, you will likely need to have them appraised by someone trained in the field to be sure that you purchased enough insurance to replace their value. Talk to your insurance agent to determine if you own an item or collection that needs specialty insurance. Doing so could save you a great deal of heartbreak in the event of a loss.