Safely and Securely Reduce the Risk of Your Tax Documents

With more people working remotely than ever before, the amount of paper generated in home offices is perhaps at an all-time high. And the current tax season is ramping up the volume of paper even more. With people knee-deep in printing W-2s, organizing receipts, and accumulating documentation to complete tax returns, the stacks of paper are no doubt reaching new heights in home offices around the country.

A cluttered workspace can be a distraction, and it can slow down productivity. Moreover, mounting piles of paper can increase the chances that critical information gets lost or misplaced, which can be frustrating—especially if you have to reprint a document because you can’t find the first one, adding more paper to the pile. At some point, you may be tempted to just throw it all in the trash and start over.
 

Trash and Recycle Bins Are Not the Answer. And Here’s Why.

Much of the paper being generated in tax preparation contains confidential or sensitive information. From a personal perspective, your tax documents can contain your social security number, bank information, and credit card data. If any of this material falls into the wrong hands, the consequences could be severe. For example, bad actors can use the information to steal your identity, causing you or your family significant hardship.
 

How Can You Balance Managing Clutter and Protecting Sensitive Information?

Although you could store papers in locked cabinets until you can bring them to the office for shredding, that is not always practical given the current volume of paper and the fact that many people will be remote for the foreseeable future. A more efficient strategy involves partnering with a shredding company to arrange for a one-time pick up of documents that are no longer needed.

For example, trained, uniformed Shred-It personnel can come to your home office at a designated time to pick up your materials, taking them back to our facility for shredding and destruction. We guarantee security once documents leave your home, offering a secure chain of custody throughout the process. After papers are fully shredded, we give you a Certificate of Destruction that verifies the material was properly handled and destroyed. 

Depending on how cluttered your office or home workspace is, you can arrange for an Express or Priority service, where your shreds are completed in either two or five days. Using a Shred-it all policy, where you opt to shred all work or tax-related papers—as opposed to separating out only those that hold sensitive information—you can efficiently prepare documents for pickup. A Shred-it all strategy combined with expedited service can help you quickly reclaim your desk and refocus on the business and personal tasks at hand.

Learn more about how Shred-it’s one-time shredding services can help you remain protected this tax season.