The documents to gather before you file

The single biggest cause of a slow return isn't complexity — it's a missing document that nobody notices until the return is half built. Gathering everything first is worth the hour it takes.

Identity

• Photo ID for you and your spouse
• Social Security or ITIN numbers for everyone on the return, including each dependent
• Last year's return, which tells your preparer what to look for
• Bank routing and account number for direct deposit

Income

• W-2 from every employer you had during the year, even the one you left in February
• 1099-NEC for contract work, 1099-K from payment platforms
• 1099-INT and 1099-DIV from banks and brokerages
• 1099-G for unemployment
• SSA-1099 for Social Security
• 1099-R for retirement distributions
• Records of any cash income — it is reportable whether or not a form was issued

Deductions and credits

• 1098 for mortgage interest, 1098-T for tuition, 1098-E for student loan interest
• Childcare provider's name, address and tax ID, plus what you paid
• Charitable donation receipts
• Medical expenses, if they were substantial
• State and local taxes paid
• Property tax bills

If you're self-employed

• Total income received, by source
• Expenses by category — not a shoebox, a total per category
• Mileage log or at least the year's business miles
• Home office square footage and total home square footage
• Any equipment bought during the year, with dates and amounts

If anything changed

Tell your preparer about a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death, a move to another state, a house bought or sold, a business started or closed, or a retirement account cashed out. Each of these changes the return in ways that aren't visible in the documents themselves.

That last list is the one people skip. It is also the one most likely to be worth money.