What Documents Should I Gather to Prepare My Income Tax Return?

Updated on November 10, 2024

Below is a list of the most common items you should gather for preparing your 2018 individual income tax return. Each individual's tax situation is different; not all items may apply to you. For a list of documents to gather for other tax years, click here.

We highly recommend you Login to Your IRS Online Tax Account and download and provide us with your "2018 Account Transcript" and "2018 Wage and Income Transcript". These transcripts will provide us with vital information to help us prepare a more accurate tax return for you. The online IRS account will also give you access to lots of information such as account balances, payments made, payment options, IRS letters/notices, and various transcripts. To view transcripts after logging in to your online IRS account, go to the "Records and Status" tab, select "Tax Records", click the blue button labeled, "View your transcripts"
A non-expired government issued photo identification document for yourself AND your spouse (if married filing jointly). RECOMMENDED: state issued driver's license or state issued identification card. The following are acceptable if you do NOT have a state issued license or ID card: U.S. military identification card, U.S. passport, or U.S. resident alien identification card
Social Security cards for yourself, spouse and dependents. We also need birth dates for everyone on your tax return. If the person does not have a Social Security number, then we will need an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for that person which would either appear on an ITIN Card or ITIN Authorization Letter. (Returning clients do NOT need to provide this information for anyone shown on last year’s tax return unless there is a change)
If you are claiming a qualifying child who lived with you in the United States for more than half the year (greater than 6 months - at least 183 nights for calendar year 2018) who was under age 19 as of December 31, 2018 OR under age 24 AND a full-time student for at least some part of any five calendar months of year 2018 OR any age and was totally and permanently disabled at any time during the year, we recommend you provide at least ONE of the following documents
If you want to claim your child AND you are considered the noncustodial parent for tax purposes (the child spent LESS nights with you during the year than the other parent) and you were never married OR your divorce took place AFTER December 31, 2008, we will need a completed Form 8332 from the custodial parent
Copy of divorce decree or separation agreement (if applicable)
If a spouse or dependent you are claiming on your tax return is deceased, please provide a copy of the death certificate. The cause of death is not required to be shown on the certificate
If you adopted a child, please contact us for the exact documents that we will need. The required documents are different for domestic and foreign adoptions
Complete copies of three prior year's federal and state income tax returns (including all worksheets)
Records showing amounts and dates of any "estimated tax" payments you sent to the IRS and/or state tax agencies for tax year 2018 (The due dates of these estimated tax payments were April 17, 2018, June 15, 2018, September 17, 2018 and January 15, 2019). If you are not sure of the dates and amounts of your IRS estimated tax payments, Login to Your IRS Online Tax Account and go to the "Payments" tab, select “Payment Activity” and then scroll down to “Processed Payments”
If you, your spouse and/or dependents were a victim of tax identity theft OR you voluntarily requested an IRS Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN), we will need the unique six-digit IP PIN assigned to the person. The IRS should have mailed Notice CP01A to the person showing the IP PIN. Each year the IRS mails a NEW Notice CP01A with a NEW IP PIN for tax returns filed during that year. This IP PIN is required to file a federal income tax return. Lost or misplaced your IP PIN? Retrieve IP PIN Online
Health coverage information for yourself, your spouse (if married filing jointly) and your dependents (if any). We will need to know if there were any FULL months that someone on your tax return did not have qualifying minimum essential health coverage. Your employer(s) and/or insurance companies may provide you with Form(s) 1095-B and Form(s) 1095-C showing months covered and/or offer for coverage. If you have been issued any healthcare Exemption Certificate Numbers (ECNs) for any healthcare exemptions or hardships for anyone on your tax return, please provide that information. If someone on your tax return was enrolled in health coverage through the federal government's Health Insurance Marketplace (Healthcare.gov) OR a State Exchange, you MUST obtain Form(s) 1095-A. You CANNOT file your income tax return without this form if any premium tax credit subsidies were allowed! (NOTE: If you are claiming a person on your tax return, such as a child, and someone else obtained the health insurance through the Marketplace or State Exchange for that person, you will need to obtain the Form 1095-A from that person in order to prepare your tax return). If someone on your tax return did not have qualifying full-year health coverage or a full-year healthcare exemption AND any of your dependents are filing a separate tax return, you MUST provide a copy of their tax return since their income MAY be needed for the sole purpose of calculating any healthcare penalty you may owe. The penalty is based on household income and includes the income of dependents who are REQUIRED to file a federal income tax return. For information on how to obtain your Form 1095-A, click here
Last paystub for each job you and your spouse (if married filing jointly) had during the year. The paystub is optional but recommended to see certain items that may be in question such as federal withholding, pre-tax deductions, and post-tax deductions
ALL W-2's, 1098's, 1099's, plus a list of any other gross income including nontaxable income for which you did NOT receive a tax document. If you received any Social Security benefits, we will need a Form SSA-1099
Schedule K-1's received from S-corporations, partnerships, estates, and/or trusts. Need a Schedule K-1 from a publicly traded partnership (PTP)? You may be able to access it by clicking here
Winnings such as gambling, lottery, prizes, awards, etc. Gambling winnings may be shown on Form W-2G and prizes and awards may be shown on Form 1099-MISC
Alimony amounts paid/received. If alimony was PAID, we need ex-spouse’s Social Security number
If you sold any capital assets such as real estate, stocks, or mutual funds, we will need to know about your cost or other basis and date of purchase, inheritance, or gift. For stocks and mutual funds, we will need Form(s) 1099-B. For sale of real estate including land, you may receive Form 1099-S
Cryptocurrency / Virtual Currency – If you sold or exchanged crypto/virtual currencies and/or used crypto/virtual currencies to pay for goods or services, you are required to report the gain/loss on these transactions. Please provide us with dates of acquisition and dates of sale/use/exchange. We will also need the values of the currency at the time of the transactions. The difference in the values will result in a capital gain or capital loss. Crypto/virtual currency that has been held greater than one year is considered a long-term capital gain/loss. Crypto/virtual currency that is held one year or less is considered a short-term capital gain/loss. Some examples of these digital currencies that have value are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin. Having problems generating tax reports? Many companies such as Coinbase, Binance, Kracken and Cash App will let you link to a third-party provider to generate tax reports. Here are links to some of those third-party providers: ZenLedger • CoinTracker • TaxBit • CoinLedger
If you purchased or refinanced any real estate, please provide us with the HUD-1 Settlement Statement , ALTA Settlement Statement OR Closing Disclosure
If you had a foreclosure on your property, please provide us with Form 1099-A from the lender. If you had a short sale on your property and the lender has forgiven all or part of the debt, please provide us with Form 1099-C from the lender
If you had any cancellation or forgiveness of debts such as credit cards, auto loans, student loans, etc., please provide us with Form(s) 1099-C from the lender
If you are a sole proprietor / self-employed / independent contractor / subcontractor / Form 1099-MISC, we will need to know the gross amount of income and your expenses separated into different expense categories. If you acquired any assets that have a useful life of greater than one year, they might need to be depreciated. We will need a description of the asset, date placed in service for business purposes, cost, and business use percentage. If you accept credit/debit cards and/or receive payments from a third-party payment network such as Amazon^®, eBay^®, PayPal^® or Google Checkout®, you may receive a Form 1099-K showing amounts paid to you. You may download a "2018 Business Income and Expense Worksheet" to assist you in preparing this information
Rental properties – we will need to know about your rental income and rental expenses separated into different expense categories, depreciation claimed on the property in prior years (if any) and property purchase information which may be shown on a HUD-1 Settlement Statement , ALTA Settlement Statement OR Closing Disclosure . You may download a "Rental Income and Expense Worksheet" to assist you in preparing this information
Information on any foreign income, foreign inheritance, foreign financial accounts, foreign trusts, or other foreign assets such a real estate you had at any time during the year
IRAs – Individual Retirement Accounts – Records showing CONTRIBUTIONS made to Traditional IRAs, and/or Roth IRAs. This information may be shown on Form 5498. If an early premature DISTRIBUTION was made from a Roth IRA, we need to know about your contributions and distributions for ALL prior years
HSAs – Health Savings Accounts – Records showing CONTRIBUTIONS made to an HSA which may be shown on Form 5498-SA. If you used any funds in your HSA for medical or other purposes, these are DISTRIBUTIONS and we will need Form 1099-SA. If any DISTRIBUTIONS were made from an HSA that were NOT used for qualified unreimbursed medical expenses, we will need to know the amount
Itemized deductions – Out of pocket medical and dental expenses such as health and dental insurance premiums (do not include pre-tax amounts through your employer), doctors, hospitals, labs, prescriptions, eye exams/glasses, medical/dental co-payments, home improvements done for medical purposes, number of miles driven for medical purposes, real estate taxes, sales tax, state and local income taxes, mortgage interest and points (Form 1098), mortgage insurance premiums - PMI (Form 1098), investment interest, charitable contributions, casualty losses in a federally declared disaster area (Example: Hurricane Michael), gambling losses (only up to the amount of your reportable gambling winnings)
Moving expenses for active duty members of the Armed Forces who move due to a military order because of a permanent change of station
For child and dependent care expenses, we will need the amount paid along with the name, complete address, and federal tax employer identification number (EIN) of the provider (Social Security number, if the provider is a person). You may use Form W-10 to obtain the provider's information
Amounts paid for post-secondary education, such as college tuition, books, supplies and equipment for you, spouse and/or your dependents. Please provide us with the 2018 Form 1098-T that is issued to the student by the educational institution. Sometimes the student may have to login to their educational institution's online student portal to view and print the Form 1098-T. (NOTE: If the student was billed for tuition at the end of 2017 and it was not paid to the institution until early 2018, please provide us with a copy of the 2017 Form 1098-T for that student). For information on how to access Form 1098-T online at some educational institutions in Central Florida, click here. We highly suggest you get a "Financial Transcript" from the educational institution showing all payments (including student loan) payments they received for tuition and fees during year 2018
Receipts and other documentation for certain qualifying energy saving improvements such as exterior windows, exterior doors, skylights, insulation, certain asphalt and metal roofs, central air conditioners, gas, oil, and propane water heaters, electric heat pumps, biomass stoves, solar electric, solar water heating, wind energy systems, geothermal heat pumps and fuel cell property. For more details, click here to visit Energy Star’s website
Please provide us with any other information and/or documentation you think we may need to accurately prepare your income tax return(s)

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