Unless you’re a kid aching for Christmas to arrive, this time of year seems to buzz by quickly for many Iowans. One certain and unpleasant thing grown-ups have to deal with is taxes. In the remaining days of 2006, I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says good record-keeping is the key to easy tax filing so he suggests to start organizing now.

Miller says to gather your canceled checks, receipts and unreimbursed medical expenses and other bills that may be important like property taxes and put them in a shoebox so you’re ready when filing season begins in January. He says most folks have a pile somewhere of all tax-related documents which they need to sort through.

He says to check on your filing status and to learn what you need to keep and for how long you need to keep it, check the website “www.irs.gov” where there’s a good keyword search engine for all sorts of tax questions.

Miller says the I-R-S still owes several hundred Iowans many thousands of dollars in tax refund checks that were returned as undeliverable by the post office. He says if people had filed electronically, that hassle could have been avoided. He says it’s fast, accurate, safe and secure and with the direct deposit option, you can have your refund in as little as two weeks and not worry about potential problems with the mail.