What documents you need for your tax return: a checklist

Half of all filing delays aren't about hard tax questions but about missing paperwork. Here's what to gather. Not everything applies to everyone: mark what's yours and keep it in one folder.

Personal details

• SSNs or ITINs for you, your spouse and your children;
• everyone's date of birth;
• last year's return, federal and state;
• a bank account and routing number for your refund — the IRS is moving to electronic refunds and rarely issues paper checks;
• your IP PIN, if the IRS sent you one.

Income

• W-2s — from every employer;
• 1099-NEC — from clients if you're a contractor (for 2026 clients must send one for payments of $2,000 or more, but income without a form is still taxable);
• 1099-K — from payment apps and platforms;
• 1099-INT and 1099-DIV — interest and dividends;
• 1099-B — stock and crypto sales;
• 1099-R — retirement account distributions;
• 1099-G — unemployment and state tax refunds;
• SSA-1099 — Social Security;
• K-1s — a share in a partnership or S-corp;
• income with no form: cash, Zelle, income from abroad.

If you have a business or are self-employed

• all income for the year — bank statements or a report from your bookkeeping software;
• expenses by category: supplies, advertising, phone, insurance, equipment;
• a mileage log if you use your car;
• your home office square footage and home expenses if you work from home;
• the amounts and dates of estimated payments you've already made.

Home and family

• 1098 — mortgage interest;
• property tax paid;
• 1098-E — student loan interest;
• 1098-T — tuition;
• 1095-A — if your insurance came from the marketplace (Covered California); if you received a subsidy, the return won't be accepted without it;
• childcare costs, with the provider's name, address and EIN or SSN;
• IRA and HSA contributions.

Rentals

• rent received;
• expenses: repairs, insurance, management, utilities you pay;
• the purchase date and price of the property, for depreciation.

Abroad

• the highest balance of each foreign account during the year;
• foreign income and any tax paid on it;
• gifts or inheritances from abroad over $100,000.

Letters

• any letters from the IRS or your state tax agency this year.

When forms arrive

Employers and clients must send W-2s and 1099-NECs by the end of January. Brokerage 1099-Bs and consolidated forms often arrive in mid-February and are sometimes corrected in March. If you're waiting on a 1099-B or K-1, don't file too early: a corrected form can mean filing an amendment.

Make it easy on yourself

Create one folder, paper or in the cloud, and put everything that arrives from January into it. In mid-February, check it against this list, and you're ready to file.

If you run a business, it's easier to keep the books all year than to rebuild them in April. I can help with bookkeeping or go straight to your return.

Sources: IRS: Gather your documents, IRS: Paper refund checks phase-out, IRS: General Instructions for Information Returns. Checked October 26, 2026.