Whether you’ve filed already, are banking on an extension, or plan to file sometime before the April 18 deadline, chances are your taxes have already crossed your mind this year. The forms are coming in, and you’re trying to figure out what to do with those W2s, W9s and all the rest.
We know most people don’t think about data backup until they wish they had it, but tax season is the perfect time to consider what would happen if your financial files disappeared into thin air. Especially for very small businesses and CEOs of side hustles, these documents are essential for maximizing returns and keeping things on the level. They’re simply too important not to back up.
So, regardless of your progress on filing this year, here are a couple good (tax-related) reasons to consider online backup.
Tax season is scam season
Let’s do a hypothetical. If ransomware were to lock down your device today, how would it affect your tax prep? If the answer is “disastrously,” you may want to spend some time thinking about backup.
Because this scenario isn’t actually all that farfetched. Ransomware is currently at historic highs, and it doesn’t just hit big businesses. In fact, small businesses are the most often targeted, and even individuals aren’t immune.
Tax season is also an opportune time for cybercriminals pushing phishing scams. We almost let our guard down about exchanging sensitive personal information like addresses, social security numbers and birthdates because, well, ‘tis the season. That’s why the IRS issues warnings every year about tax-related fraud Americans should be on the lookout for.
For more on tax-inspired scams, check out this blog from Webroot.
But it’s not just scammers you have to watch out for. Coffee spills, laptop drops or natural disasters can turn your devices into doorstops just as easily. Without those irreplaceable files backed up somewhere online, you’re back to square one. Or worse.
Backed up files are organized files
Next year’s tax season may seem like an eternity from now, but there are things you can do today to make next April easier on yourself. Have business expenses? Backing up your e-receipts with something like the Carbonite™ Safe solution is the best way to make sure you know where to find them when tax time comes. Get the best return possible by making sure every notebook, monitor or mouse you purchased for your work or revenue-generating passion project is accounted for.
And the best thing is, it happens automatically. You don’t have to channel your inner CPA every time you make a purchase to determine if it’s eligible for a write-off. Carbonite stores the contents of your personal computer securely in the cloud without you having to upload, item-by-item, essential files. That’s one of the reasons free cloud storage solutions have nothing on Carbonite.
Call it your tax season resolution. Pledge to be more organized for next time around by spending this year’s return on easy, convenient backup for all your financial documents. Just one more benefit of backing up with Carbonite.
Get Carbonite Safe today and know you’ve got tax season on lock.
