Need to Scan Important Tax Documents? Use Your Phone's Camera - CNET

It's the commencement of the 2023 taxation season, which means you're apt receiving important documents from your leader to assistance you record your 2022 tax return. If you're receiving physics copies of your W-2 oregon 1099 forms, past you're astir apt acceptable to record your taxes online through TurboTax, H&R Block or different service. However, if you got those documents successful the mail, you'll request to digitize them first.

Don't miss: Most Can't File Income Taxes Without It: When You'll Get Your W-2 Form

By digitizing your taxation forms, you tin easy upload information, specified arsenic your taxation recognition fig and sources of income, to the work you're utilizing without having to input everything manually, which tin often beryllium a symptom if you've got analyzable taxes.

You tin person immoderate carnal taxation papers you person into a integer format utilizing lone your telephone oregon tablet. Whether you person an iOS oregon Android device, determination are built-in tools connected either iPhone oregon Android that let you to usage your camera to rapidly scan a carnal papers and person it into a PDF with ease. Here's how.

How to scan your taxation documents with your iPhone oregon iPad

If you've got an iPhone oregon iPad, you person a mates of ways to scan your documents with your camera, but we'll beryllium focusing connected utilizing the Files app. This method is preferred due to the fact that the papers is saved successful Files, which makes it casual to past edit and stock to your machine oregon different devices.

1. To start, unfastened the Files app.

2. Next, pat the three-dot paper icon successful the top-right.

3. Hit Scan Documents.

You tin usage the Files app to scan carnal documents connected iOS.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Your camera volition past open, and you'll beryllium asked to presumption the papers successful view. The champion mode to scan your taxation papers is to spot it connected a level surface, similar a array oregon desk, successful a well-lit area. Stay distant from immoderate surfaces that are achromatic oregon bespeak excessively overmuch light, oregon other the camera won't beryllium capable to scan the papers properly.

Now, presumption the telephone oregon tablet truthful that it's straight implicit the papers and you'll spot a bluish overlay look connected the document, indicating it's being scanned. If the papers is scanned correctly, it'll automatically beryllium placed into your completed scans, allowing you to scan much documents if you wish.

You tin past pat the papers preview successful the bottom-left to rescan oregon edit your documents. You tin harvest them -- successful lawsuit the automatic scanning wasn't large -- and adhd a filter (such arsenic grayscale) to amended their readability. If you're blessed with the scans, pat Save to store the papers arsenic a PDF successful the Files app. You tin past rename the papers oregon stock it via email. If you program connected filing taxes connected your mobile device, you tin besides upload the PDF to immoderate taxation apps via the Files app.

How to scan your taxation papers with your Android

On Android, determination are a fewer ways to scan documents, but it usually varies somewhat depending connected the exemplary of the phone. While the Pixel 7 and the S22, for example, some person a built-in papers scanner successful the Camera app, the OnePlus 10 Pro and the Moto G Power bash not. So instead, we'll beryllium scanning documents done the Google Drive app, which technically isn't built-in, but astir Android devices person the Google Drive app preinstalled, truthful it's conscionable arsenic good.

1. First, unfastened the Google Drive app.

2. Next, pat the blue + button connected the bottommost right.

3. Then, pat Scan.

On Android, you tin scan taxation docs with Google Drive.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

With your carnal taxation papers laid level connected a nonreflective surface, spot the camera straight implicit the insubstantial and presumption it successful the frame. Make definite the taxation papers is successful focus, and past deed the shutter fastener to instrumentality a photo. If the representation looks good, pat OK. You should past spot an automatically cropped representation of your taxation document. You tin past adhd a filter to the papers (such arsenic achromatic and white), rotate it and edit the borders. If you privation to adhd much documents, pat connected the + icon connected the bottom-left.

If you're blessed with your scans, deed Save connected the bottommost right. Then, you tin springiness the papers a name, take an relationship (in lawsuit you person multiple) and prime a folder to prevention the papers (as a PDF) in. Once you bash that, deed Save again connected the bottom-right. With your taxation papers saved to Google Drive, you tin adhd comments, hunt done it via keywords and of people stock it via email oregon straight to immoderate taxation apps you mightiness person connected your Android.

Now that it's taxation season, you mightiness person questions. If you privation to larn more, cheque retired these 13 champion taxation deductions to look guardant to successful 2023 and how your star panels tin marque you money.