Don't Miss Another Tax Deduction! These 5 Apps Can Help

Tax season is a time of mourning all those deductions that could have been--that moment when you see the year's tax bill and instantly regret all those receipts you tossed. As independent contractors, real estate agents can write off quite an array of business expenses. Each of those deductions, however, needs to be documented in order to be legitimate in the eyes of the IRS. That means saving receipts and recording miles.

Pretty tedious stuff, right? But that's why a lot of agents have tax bills that are higher than they could have been.

While it's too late to change what you'll owe this April 15, you can reduce what you'll pay next year by diligently documenting deductions. Fortunately, the smartphone era has taken a lot of the pain in achieving this away. As with most things today, there's an app for that. Here are 5 of our favorite.

1. MileIQ - MileIQ uses your phone's built-in GPS to automatically log your mileage. Once you're done driving, you can simply swipe to classify a trip as a business expense. A nice touch is the amount of miles driven and deductions earned displayed at the top of the app. Think of it as extra motivation to keep diligently logging those miles! The app is free for 40 drives per month; a premium version tracks unlimited drives for a low monthly or annual fee.

2. Shoeboxed - Shoeboxed helps you keep track of your receipts. You can scan paper receipts using your mobile phone and even connect with Gmail to identify and organize receipts from online vendors. The app will also keep track of mileage using your phone's GPS. Free and premium versions are available.