Shoeboxed Can Shred and Recycle Your Receipts and Business Cards

If we can avoid unnecessary mailings, it keeps our costs low so that we can bring you a better Shoeboxed!

The IRS encouraged individuals and businesses to explore whether they are eligible for any of the new energy tax provisions. More information on the wide range of energy items is available on the special Recovery section of IRS.gov. For a larger listing of ARRA’s energy-related tax benefits, see Fact Sheet 2009-10.

Tax Credits for Home Energy Efficiency Improvements Increase

Homeowners can get bigger tax credits for making energy efficiency improvements or installing alternative energy equipment.

The IRS also announced homeowners seeking these tax credits can temporarily rely on existing manufacturer certifications or appropriate Energy Star labels for purchasing qualifying products until updated certification guidelines are announced later this spring.

“These new, expanded credits encourage homeowners to make improvements that will make their homes more energy efficient,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “People can improve their homes and save money over the long run.”

ARRA provides for a uniform credit of 30 percent of the cost of qualifying improvements up to $1,500, such as adding insulation, energy-efficient exterior windows, and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems. The new law replaces the old law combination available in 2007 of a 10-percent credit for certain property and a credit equal to cost up to a specified amount for other property.

The new law also raised the limit on the amount that can be claimed for improvements placed in service during 2009 and 2010 to $1,500, instead of the $500 lifetime limit under the old law.

In addition, the new law has increased the energy efficiency standards for building insulation, exterior windows, doors, and skylights, certain central air conditioners, and natural gas, propane or oil water heaters placed in service after Feb. 17, 2009.

IRS guidance issued before the enactment of ARRA will be modified in the near future to reflect the new energy efficiency standards. In the meantime, homeowners may continue to rely on manufacturers’ certifications that were provided under the old guidance and on Energy Star labels for exterior windows and skylights in determining whether property purchased before June 1, 2009, qualifies for the credit. Manufacturers should not continue to provide certifications for property that fails to meet the new standards.

The new law also eliminates the cap on the 30 percent tax credit for alternative energy equipment, such as solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps and small wind turbines, installed in a home. The cap generally has been eliminated for these improvements beginning in the 2009 tax year. The IRS today issued Notice 2009-41, which explains the effects of this change.

Funding Options for Renewable Energy Power Plants

Business taxpayers who place in service facilities that produce electricity from wind and some other renewable resources can choose one of three options to fund the project: a tax credit based on the amount invested, a tax credit based on the energy produced or a grant.

The flexibility to choose among these options was enacted as part of ARRA.

Taxpayers may opt to claim the energy investment tax credit, which generally provides a 30 percent tax credit for investments in energy projects, instead of the production tax credit, which can provide a credit of up to 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced from renewable sources.

Taxpayers making qualified investments that are placed in service after 2008 and before 2014 (or 2013 for wind facilities) can make an irrevocable election to claim the energy investment tax credit instead of the renewable electricity production tax credit. IRS will issue guidance explaining how to make the election.

Taxpayers also can claim a grant once the property is placed in service instead of claiming either the energy investment tax credit or the renewable energy production tax credit. For qualified renewable energy facilities, the grant is 30 percent of the investment in the facility as long as construction begins in 2009 or 2010 and the property is placed in service before 2014 (2013 for wind facilities). The Treasury Department will issue guidance explaining how the grant works and how to apply.

Taxpayers electing to receive the grant, created by the ARRA, will not be eligible for either of the tax credits.  Proceeds from the grants are not includible in the taxpayer’s gross income, but the grant amount is subject to recapture if the property is disposed of or otherwise ceases to qualify.

A large amount of these tax breaks were so-called “green tax pork” aimed at incentivizing businesses and individuals to invest in green products.

The bailout contained tax breaks for a wide range of green technologies, including home windmills, corn-powered stoves, plug-in hybrid automobiles and deluxe bicycles. Can’t wait to start cooking cornbread in your corn-powered oven? You can start right away: These tax breaks are retroactive to the beginning of 2008 and will likely last through at least 2016.

Congress Authorized Tax Breaks for Green Technologies

For a more complete list of benefits, here is a report from Forbes Magazine:

Solar  > For 2008 you can claim one tax credit of up to $2,000 for up to 30% of the cost of a photovoltaic system to generate electricity and another credit of up to $2,000 for 30% of the cost of a system to heat hot water for showers and radiators (not for hot tubs or pools). This is a credit, not a deduction, so it reduces your tax liability dollar for dollar.

Stop! Don’t install a photovoltaic system yet. In 2009 the $2,000 cap on that credit (but not the cap on the credit for thermal systems) comes off. No matter how much you spend, you can get 30% back from Uncle Sam. For a typical $60,000 installation, you’ll get $18,000 knocked off your tax bill. If you don’t owe that much you can carry forward any unused credit and use it in later years. Charles Goulding, a Syosset, N.Y. energy tax lawyer, reports that homeowners who have already started work are asking contractors not to finish until next year, to get the bigger break. “It’s going to cause solar to boom in this country,” he predicts. But first, perversely, it’s causing a delay.

Note: In some cases the federal credits apply only to your net system cost after state incentives–now offered by 18 states. (For a state-by-state listing of green incentives, go to www.dsireusa.org.) Between the state and federal giveaways, installing a solar system might be a win financially (for you personally, if not for the taxpayer). To figure out how much energy a photovoltaic system will generate in your locale, check out the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s PVWatts online calculator.

Can’t find a contractor? No need to rush; Congress authorized both of the solar credits through 2016, and a Democratic Congress is unlikely to take green credits away, even from rich folks. Even better, you can use the credits to reduce your alternative minimum tax bill as well as your regular tax.

Wind and geothermal > There’s a new $4,000 credit for up to 30% of the cost of installing a home windmill system to generate electricity. (The credit is available even if you’re selling the wind energy back to a utility.) For geothermal systems like the one the Chayets installed there’s a new $2,000 credit. Daniel Ellis, president of ClimateMaster, a manufacturer of heat pumps, says the typical geothermal installation runs about $18,000. So the $2,000 break, he says, “isn’t going to be a deal-changer for most people, but it’s a sweetener.” Like the solar credits, these credits are available for work done between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2016.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has an In My Backyard tool that estimates the electricity you can produce with a windmill at www.nrel.gov/eis/imby. For geothermal the best tool comes from Natural Resources Canada, downloadable at www.retscreen.net.

Home improvements > The new law resurrects for 2009 a $500-per-tax-filer lifetime tax credit for energy-efficient home improvements. This credit was in effect in 2006 and 2007 but isn’t available for work performed in 2008. (Couples who file separately can claim only $250 each.)

It’s not hard to use up your $500 lifetime allotment. You can get up to a $500 credit (equal to 10% of materials costs) for insulation or exterior doors; up to a $200 credit (equal to 10% of installation and materials costs) for windows; up to $150 for an energy-efficient furnace or boiler burning gas, propane or oil; and up to $300 for a new central air system or water heater meeting certain specs. New for 2009 is the $300 credit for a corn stove, that being something to heat your home. (Why is this country using food to heat homes? Same reason it uses food to run cars.) To see if the equipment you’re buying qualifies, go to www.ase.org/taxcredits.

Transportation > The new law creates a credit of up to $7,500 for the first 250,000 buyers of plug-in electric vehicles, beginning in 2009. So far the Chevy Volt, scheduled to come on the market in 2010 with an estimated $40,000 sticker price, is the only vehicle that seems to qualify. Meanwhile, the old hybrid-car tax credit of up to $3,150 is still available for certain models but not the most popular ones. That break, passed in 2005, applied in full to only the first 60,000 hybrids from each manufacturer; Toyota (nyse: TM – news – people ) has run out of credits, and Honda (nyse: HMC – news – people ) is likely to do so by year’s end. (Warning: You can’t use a hybrid credit to reduce your AMT.)

Congress even found a place in the bailout for a bicycle tax benefit–an idea that Representative Earl Blumenauer (D–Ore.), who bikes to work, has been peddling for years. Beginning in 2009 employers who provide transit benefits (either pretax salary reduction plans or prepaid vouchers) for bus, train, van pooling or parking can provide up to $20 a month in tax-free bicycling benefits. (Bike commuters can’t double-dip and get transit or parking vouchers, too.)

Congress has left it to the IRS to fix the details, but expenses that could be reimbursed from a pretax or employer-paid bicycle benefit are likely to include the costs of buying, fixing or storing a bike. No word yet on Spandex.

The Toyota Prius is the most popular hybrid car

Though many expected the sales of hybrids to increase this year with the rising cost of gas, the poor economy is likely to blame for the dip in sales. With auto companies stuggling across the board with sales, and with the high sticker price of hybrids, people may be staying away. The lack of available credit likely contributes to the lower sales as well.

Despite the economy’s effects on hybrid sales figures, there are some great economic incentives to own own (other than the impressive fuel efficiency).

Federal and state governments and corporations have several incentives in place to encourage the purchase of fuel efficient vehicles like the Prius. The federal government offers a tax credit to buyers up to a certain number of cars sold by the manufacturer. This credit can range from $787 to $3150. Many state governments offer tax incentives as well, including Colorado, Connecticut and Illinois. Many states allow hybrid cars to drive in the HOV carpool lanes and some cities (e.g. Los Angeles and San Jose, CA) have exempted hybrid cars from paying for street parking. New York state offers several discounts to hybrid cars on various tolls in the state.

Several companies have also offered incentives to people purchasing a Prius. Google, Hyperion Solutions, and Clif Bar & Co. offer employees $5000 credits toward the purchase of a hybrid car, including the Prius. Other companies with incentives include Bank of America, Timberland, Patagonia, DLA Piper law firm, non-profit American Jewish Committe, Topics Entertainment and Excel Contract Logistics, among others.

Whether for bookkeeping, archiving, or expense reports, everyday many do-gooding Americans are told that scotch-taping their receipts to yet another piece of paper is the best way to get their expenses organized.

Fortunately, for each and every one of you that has been forced into such a situation, who has sat there with scotch tape in one hand and papers in the other wondering what on earth, who has wasted so much tape and so much paper.

To you we say, “Welcome.” Shoeboxed is here. Step away from the tape and put down the paper.

With Shoeboxed, you can send you receipts as loose pieces of paper (actually that’s how we want them) in an envelope. No tape or paper backing needed. Your receipts will be scanned and entered in to your online account, so you can sort them in a way that makes sense. There’s no need to have some elaborate filing system anymore. We’ll make your receipts sortable for you, without the tape.

The Charlotte Observer wrote an article about it here.

This obviously annoying; let me count the ways.

1. It’s really wasteful. Think of the trees, people.
2. It’s inefficient. It just makes it harder for you to scan your receipts to find the total and the item prices. Instead, you have to study the receipt to actually find the info you want.
3. It’s cumbersome. It bothers me when I can’t fit a receipt into my wallet. There shouldn’t be too many receipts that are longer than my wallet, but I often end up folding them up two or three times. When I eventually put them in my Receipt Mail-In envelope, I have to spend a few seconds flattening them out. Hey, well at least it’s still easier than scanning them myself.

Shoeboxed is well equipped to deal with long receipts. There is no limit to the size of your scanned receipt images, so they can be large enough to have your whole receipt in there with a high enough resolution to make it readable. Also, the receipt scanners we use for Receipt Mail-In can scan receipts that are more than 3 feet long, so we can handle most any receipt that you send us.

The article does make a prediction though about the future of receipt lengths:

If you haven’t noticed a difference at the checkout counter, keep your eyes peeled. Mounting environmental concerns mean that receipts are likely to shrink further.

Let’s hope they’re right!

We received an overwhelming response, as both local papers (The News & Observer and The Herald Sun) wrote stories about the event.

One elementary school teacher even turned it into a class project. It looks like all the kids in her class gathered up receipts and brought them in to school. They all combined their efforts to save some trees, and we were really proud to see that a new generation of Shoeboxers is ready, willing, and able to do their part in the fight against receipt clutter!

If you’re interested in doing a similar kind of activity at your place of work, or in your home, let us know. I’d be glad to help you out; just send me an email at dan@team.shoeboxed.com!

Making waves, people. Making waves.

Our latest development is a receipt recycling drive starting on Earth Day, this upcoming Tuesday April 22nd. Shoeboxed invites all businesses and individuals to submit paper receipts to us through April 29th. All the receipts we receive will eventually be transported by foot, bike, scooter, or Toyota Prius to the local recycling plant.

If you help us achieve our goal to recycle a tree’s worth of receipts (58 kilograms), we’ll even scan all receipts and load them into your free Shoeboxed account for you before recycling them. That’s a pretty sweet deal, as this service usually costs $19.95 per month.

When you are sending in your receipts, make sure to include your name, email address, and phone number in an envelope with your receipts.

For more information about the impact that paper receipts have on our environment and some more details about Shoeboxed’s Earth Day celebrations, check out our Shoeboxed Earth Day page.

Digitize receipts. Save the Earth. Shoebox everyday.

We recognize that individual action needs to be taken in order to develop the environmentally-conscious attitude needed to preserve our natural resources, and using Shoeboxed is one way you can take a stand for the environment. By using Shoeboxed, YOU can start acting NOW to change things and make our lives more sustainable. Here’s how:

1. Scan in paper receipts to Shoeboxed and then recycle them. We had so many people contact us and tell us about how many thousands of receipts they are keeping around their houses. One woman emailed me the other day saying she had been saving every single receipt she has ever received since she was 7. Now that is a lot of paper. Digitize receipts and then recycle! Our Receipt Mail-In program makes this easy. Under our normal rates, you can send us hundreds of receipts at a time, and with special bulk pricing, you can mail in a lot more than that.

2. In the long term, Shoeboxed hopes to make the world free of paper receipts, and allow you to skip right to the digital copy. With your support of our current projects, you will make this happen more quickly, and the receipt revolution will accelerate!

I wanted to share some interesting facts with you about receipt paper usage in the United States every year, because I think they really drive home the point.

Basic Facts:

1 Ton of Paper = 17 Trees

220,000 tons of receipt paper are produced each year in the USA alone

220,000 tons of receipt paper = 3,740,000 trees cut ONLY for receipts EVERY YEAR

By recycling your receipts after putting them online on your personal and secure Shoeboxed account, you will not save only trees.

1 Ton of paper also represents:
- 6953 gallons of water
- 463 gallons of oil
- 587 pounds of air pollution
- 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space
- 4077 Kilowatt hours of energy

By using Shoeboxed regularly, imagine how many trees you can save every year. Start eliminating paper receipts today! And with Shoeboxed, you’re not just helping to preserve the earth’s invaluable natural habitats, you’ll also benefit from using the premier receipt organization service online. It’s kind of no-brainer.

1. Recycling—Flyers adorn the walls of every room reminding everyone to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum products. Some team members made special containers to help separate out recyclables from the trash.

2. Energy efficiency—As an Internet start-up company, we use computers all day and all night. There are certain guidelines we all follow to cut down on our computers’ energy use. Here are some of those tips:
a. Turn off or set computers to a lower power setting anytime we do not use them.
b. Do not use screen savers, but rather use screen/monitor shutdown options.
c. Turn on printers and scanners only when they need to be used.
d. Use only products with ENERGY STAR labels.
3. Utensils—We use silverware and dishes that we clean after each use to avoid resorting to plastic utensils and paper plates.

4. Water use—Water use in the Shoequarters is limited; however, all team members make efforts to avoid keeping the water running when washing dishes or washing their hands.

5. Electricity—It is a rule in the office to turn off lights in rooms that are no longer in use.

6. Commuting—Some of us live within walking distance of the office and others live on the nearby Duke campus. Walking, biking, and carpooling are the ways we encourage team members to come to the Shoequarters every day.

Shoeboxed is moving in the right direction. The changes we are making in the Shoequarters and in our personal lives are significant. We are proud to display our environmentally-conscious efforts and hope to inspire others to follow our lead.

I came across a website the other day that made a strong case for the existence of a site such as Shoeboxed. Mark A. Thomas of New York has decided to put most of his receipts from the past few years on the Internet. The site allows any visitor to access Thomas’ receipts in high quality resolution.

Although the idea of saving receipts online, as Thomas has, may seem appealing because it frees up your filing cabinets (or actual shoeboxes) and other storage space at home, the security and organization are lacking with Thomas’ method. With Shoeboxed, Thomas would be able to establish different Shoeboxes to better organize his receipts, thus making it easier to track down travel receipts from food purchases, for example. At the same time, with a personal and secure account, Thomas would not have to put all his receipts on display to everyone. With Shoeboxed you now have the option to keep your receipts online like Mr. Thomas wanted to in a secure and organized manner. Let’s also not forget that putting your paper receipts online allows you to recycle your receipts, an extra plus and step towards keeping a sustainable society model.

Shoeboxed can work for him and it can work for you! Sign up for free today!

So, on one of my daily sweeps through GoogleNews, I came across a great story that I thought I’d share with you all. It’s a story about how much paper is used on receipts in the greater Toronto metropolitan area. One guy they interviewed did a little mental math and estimated that about 5 million pounds of paper are used every three years in the city… just on receipts.

There is a video version of the story at the link above as well. In it, the reporter mentions the growing trend of retailers offering digital receipts to stay environmentally friendly. Always make sure to ask retailers if they offer this green option, and if they do, have them send that receipt to your Shoeboxed e-mail address.

Moral of the story? Loving the planet is cool! Be cool with Shoeboxed!

With this unique online feature, we hope that our users can join us on a mission to promote more widespread recycling of paper receipts. No longer do you have to save that paper receipt in a folder buried in your filing cabinet. Now you can simply upload all of your paper receipts onto your personal Shoeboxed account and throw the actual receipt in a recycling bin. You will have the convenience of always being able to view your entire receipt online, while also knowing that the physical receipt can again be used thanks to the recycling process.

Most receipts are printed on recycled paper; however those receipts hardly ever go back into the recycling phase. Let’s change that together. Create your free Shoeboxed account today and do your part in making that particular aspect of our society more sustainable.

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