Personal Information
- A Social Security or tax ID number for everyone included on your tax return -
Claiming a parent, sibling, or someone new this year?
Please provide their Social Security card and date of birth (If 17 years old or younger, please provide their birth certificate – not needed for adult dependents).
If your dependent doesn’t have a SSN, you’ll need an ITIN instead. Please call for more information.
Income and Investment Information
- Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement –
Your W-2 shows how much you earned and how much was withheld for taxes. Your employer has until February 1st to send you the form. If you haven’t received yours and it’s after Feb 1st, go ahead and request it from them.
Please wait until you receive a W-2 from all the places you worked last year to file your tax return. Even if you only worked there for one day, you still have to claim the income. Not claiming it will flag you for an audit with the IRS, cause delays and cost you more money in the long run.
- Form 1099-G –
Unemployment income must be reported and will be on a Form 1099-G. It more than likely will not come in the mail, especially if you certify for benefits electronically. You will have to log into the IDES website and download it.
Again, not reporting this income will flag you for an audit with the IRS, cause delays and cost you more money in the long run.
- Bank or financial institution statements –
Did you make contributions to an IRA? You’ll need a Form 5498.
Are you paying down student loan debt? Be sure to grab your Form 1098-E.
Have a savings account or CD? Be sure to have your Form 1099-INT.
- Any (and all) other Form 1099s –
There are several other different types of 1099s. Some of the common ones include:
- 1099-MISC is no longer for self-employed people who received $600+ for a job/project - since 2020, there is a NEW FORM number 1099-NEC
- 1099-MISC if now only for Rent Received, Other Income, award money, gambling winnings, lottery pay-outs, etc.
- 1099-K if you received money through a third-party app (Square, PayPal, Venmo, etc.)
- 1099-DIV if you received dividends
- 1099-G if you received money or benefits from the government
- 1099-R for distributions from a retirement plan, IRA, pension, annuity, etc.
- Social Security benefits –
If you receive Social Security, you will receive an SSA-1099 in the mail showing the total amount of benefits you received for 2020. Although this income is NOT taxable in most cases, it must still be reported on your tax return. Not filing it will flag you for an audit, cause delays, and could potentially cause you to owe the IRS if you do not file it with your original tax return.
Did you or a dependent attend college or a university?
- Form 1098-T –
All tuition paid by you or your student dependent will be shown on Form 1098-T and generates credits when filed with your tax return. It more than likely will not come in the mail, especially if you made your payments electronically. You/your student will have to log into the school’s online portal and download it.
Not reporting this form will not get you in any trouble, but you are basically forfeiting the tax credits that you could get for filing it.
The form will only show tuition paid. You will need to keep track of any out-of-pocket expenses (such as books, fees, uniforms, computer, tutoring, etc.) which can also be written off and increase your credits. Keep receipts!
Own a Home?
- Property tax –
You will need a copy of the property tax bill.
- Mortgage Interest Statement –
Under the new tax law, this deduction was eliminated for most taxpayers. More often than not, you will not need to provide this document.
Medical Expenses
- Form 1095-A: Health insurance coverage form –
If you are enrolled through the Marketplace, you will receive Form 1095-A. This is a very important form and not filing it will flag you for an audit, cause delays, and could potentially cause you to owe the IRS if you do not file it with your original tax return.
- Employer coverage –
Insurance providers will send a 1095-B for individuals they cover. If your employer offers coverage, they should send you a 1095-C. These forms are for informational purposes only and they do NOT need to be reported on your tax return. You can file your taxes even if you haven’t received them yet.
Charitable Donations
- Charitable donations –
Under the new tax law, this deduction was eliminated for most taxpayers. More often than not, you will not need to provide this information.
Before you take the time to tally up all of your donations and find all your receipts, please ask us if you are one of the very limited few that can still use this deduction.
Self-Employed?
I do not need your receipts to file your tax return. Please only provide the total on a spreadsheet of the following:
- Business income –
Total up all your income from all sources for the tax year that you are filing, January - December.
- Business expenses –
Total up all the money you spent on your business and provide the totals for each type of spending. For example: supplies, materials, uniforms, advertising, cell phone, insurance, office rent, bank fees, etc. We can provide a free spreadsheet for you to use if you need one. Just ask :)
- Mileage –
In order to get a deduction for your travel, you’ll need to know how many miles you drove for the year. Please total up your mileage and separate out how many of those miles were for work purposes and how many were for personal.
- Home office expenses –
Taking the home office deduction? You’ll need to know the total square footage of your home and then, the square footage of the office space itself. You can also include any square footage used to store supplies, inventory, etc for your business. (like the portion of the basement, garage or attic you used for example).
- Quarterly estimated tax payments receipts –
If you make installments to your tax bill during the year, the IRS (and your state) should send you a record of what you paid – similar to a receipt. You need this to get credit for it.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to give us a call at 630-263-7070.