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Personal information This is what tells the IRS who is filing, who is covered by the return, and where a refund should go.
Social Security numbers and dates of birth for you, your spouse and every dependent A child must have a Social Security number valid for employment, issued by the due date of the return, for the child tax credit. ITIN documents, if you or a dependent file without a Social Security number As a Certified Acceptance Agent I can certify your passport in the office — you do not have to mail the original to the IRS. Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN), if the IRS issued you one A new six-digit PIN is issued for each filing season. Without the current one the return is rejected. Last year's federal and state returns Helpful, not required. Bank account and routing number for a direct deposit or a direct debit Every letter you received from the IRS or a state during the year Keep the whole notice. The number in the top right corner sets the deadline for answering it. Changes during the year: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a move to another state, a new business A move can require part-year resident returns, and sometimes a resident or nonresident return as well, depending on domicile and where income was earned. Income The IRS receives a copy of most of these forms. An omitted or mismatched item may be identified by the IRS matching system and can lead to a notice later.
Form W-2 from every employer you and your spouse worked for Form 1099-NEC for contract, freelance and gig workChanged For payments made in 2026 the reporting threshold rises to $2,000, up from $600, so fewer forms will arrive than in past years. The income is taxable whether or not a form was issued. Form 1099-MISC for rents, royalties, prizes and legal settlements Form 1099-K from payment apps, marketplaces and card processors For 2026, third-party payment networks generally issue Form 1099-K when payments exceed $20,000 and 200 transactions. Payment-card transactions follow different reporting rules. Income is taxable whether or not a form is issued. Forms 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-B and the consolidated statement from each broker Form 1099-DA for sales and exchanges of digital assetsNew Brokers now report crypto sales to the IRS. Bring your own exchange history as well — the form may not show what you originally paid. Schedule K-1 from every partnership, S corporation, estate or trust Form 1099-R and Form 8606 for pensions, IRA distributions, rollovers and Roth conversions Form SSA-1099 for Social Security benefits Form 1099-G for unemployment benefits and state tax refunds Form 1099-S from the sale of a property, with both closing statements and receipts for improvements Improvements made over the years can reduce the gain. Keep invoices, permits, closing records and other reliable proof of the work and cost. Form 1099-C for cancelled or forgiven debt Business income and expenses: profit and loss, mileage log, equipment bought during the year This becomes Schedule C. If TaxFM keeps your books, it is already done. Rental income and expenses, plus any suspended losses carried forward This becomes Schedule E. Suspended losses come off last year's Form 8582. Installment sale details — Form 6252, principal and interest collected, the payer's name and SSN Form W-2G for gambling winnings, and your own log of wagers and losses For a casual gambler, losses are deductible only up to reported winnings and only as an itemized deduction. A taxpayer conducting gambling as a trade or business follows different rules, so identify that situation separately. Other income: jury duty pay, scholarships and fellowships, awards, hobby income Alimony received under a divorce finalised before 2019 Alimony under later agreements is neither taxable nor deductible. New deductions on Schedule 1-A Four deductions introduced for 2025 through 2028. You can take them whether or not you itemize, and each one phases out as income rises.
Qualified tips, if you work in an occupation that customarily receives themNew Up to $25,000. Tips must be reported on a W-2, a 1099 or Form 4137. The deduction phases out above $150,000 of modified AGI ($300,000 joint). Qualified overtime — the premium half of the pay, not the whole hourNew Up to $12,500, or $25,000 on a joint return. Only the amount above your regular rate counts. Phases out above $150,000 of modified AGI ($300,000 joint). Interest on a car loan: the lender's interest statement and the vehicle's VINNew Up to $10,000. The loan must have been taken out after 31 December 2024 and be secured by a personal-use vehicle assembled in the United States. The VIN goes on the return. Phases out above $100,000 of modified AGI ($200,000 joint). Age 65 or older by the end of the year — for you and your spouseNew An extra $6,000 each, on top of the additional standard deduction seniors already receive. Phases out above $75,000 of modified AGI ($150,000 joint). If you are self-employed or own part of a business Schedule C, a rental, a partnership K-1 or an S corporation K-1 all land on your personal return — and this is where the 2026 rules moved the most. The basics belong in the income section above; what follows is what changed.
The figures for the qualified business income deduction: your share of income, W-2 wages paid and the basis of qualified propertyChanged The deduction is permanent now. For 2026 it starts to phase out above $403,500 of taxable income on a joint return ($201,750 for everyone else), and there is a minimum deduction of $400 if you have at least $1,000 of qualified business income. Copies of the Forms 1099-NEC you issued to contractors, Form 1096 if they were filed on paper, and a signed W-9 for each payeeChanged For payments made in 2026 the reporting threshold rises from $600 to $2,000. Collect Form W-9 before the first payment so the payee's name, tax classification and TIN can be verified before an information return or backup withholding issue arises. Income you were paid without receiving a 1099 Your own invoices and deposit records are now the primary evidence of what you earned, not the forms that arrive in January. Assets bought for the business or the rental: invoices, dates placed in service, and anything traded in (Form 4562)Changed 100% bonus depreciation is back for qualified property acquired and placed in service after 19 January 2025. The Section 179 limit for 2026 is $2,560,000, reduced once purchases pass $4,090,000. Which one to use is a decision worth making deliberately — it affects future years. Domestic research and development costs, if you build products, processes or softwareChanged Domestic research can be deducted in the year it is paid again, for tax years beginning after 2024, instead of being spread over five years. Small businesses may also be able to go back to earlier years. Every Schedule K-1 in full, including the footnotes and the basis statement Losses beyond your basis are suspended, and distributions beyond basis are taxable. The K-1's first page alone is not enough. Pass-through entity tax paid by a partnership or S corporation on your behalfChanged It shows up as a credit on the state return and is worth checking against the federal SALT cap, which for 2026 is $40,400 and shrinks for income over $505,000. Home office: square footage of the office and of the home, and the year's utilities, insurance and repairs This becomes Form 8829. The space has to be used regularly and exclusively for the business. Vehicle: make and model, the date it went into business use, and the year's mileage For the standard mileage rate the return asks for three numbers separately — total miles driven, business miles, and commuting miles — so a log or a mileage app is what makes them defensible. Commuting between home and a regular workplace is not business mileage. If you claim actual costs instead, bring fuel, insurance, repairs, registration and the lease or loan statements. Health insurance premiums and retirement contributions made through the business Form 1095-A if the coverage came through the Marketplace, and the plan's year-end statement or Form 5498 for a SEP or SIMPLE. A solo 401(k) holding more than $250,000 also files Form 5500-EZ. Adjustments to income These come off your income before the standard deduction, so they help whether or not you itemize.
Family, education and care The credits in this section are among the largest on the return, and they are the ones most often lost to a missing tax ID or a receipt nobody kept. Every line here needs a number from somebody else — ask early.
Health coverage Marketplace coverage must be reconciled on the federal return, while proof of other coverage may matter under a state mandate. Keep every coverage form and request a correction if the household or premium information is wrong.
If you itemize For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly and $24,150 head of household. Itemizing only helps if your deductions add up to more than that — bring the documents anyway and we will compare both.
Form 1098 for mortgage interest, points and mortgage insurance premiumsChanged Mortgage insurance premiums are deductible again. Property tax bills for every property you own State and local income tax paid during the year, or sales tax if it is largerChanged The cap for 2026 is $40,400 ($20,200 if married filing separately). It shrinks for income over $505,000 but never below $10,000. Charitable donations: receipts, the charity's acknowledgement for anything over $250, miles driven, and the value of donated goodsChanged From 2026 only the part above 0.5% of your AGI counts. Donated goods worth more than $500 in total need Form 8283, and above $5,000 a written appraisal. Small gifts add up — keep every receipt. Medical and dental expenses, including premiums, mileage and long-term care Deductible only above 7.5% of AGI, so bring everything before deciding it is not worth it. Investment interest expense Generally limited on Form 4952 to net investment income. Disallowed investment interest may carry forward, and an election to include qualified dividends or capital gain can affect their preferential tax rate. Casualty losses from a federally declared disaster: the damage amount, insurance reimbursement and the FEMA declaration number Reported on Form 4684. For most individuals, a personal casualty loss is federally deductible only when attributable to a federally declared disaster; limited statutory exceptions may apply. Union dues and unreimbursed employee expenses are no longer deductible Repealed, and the repeal is now permanent. Self-employed business expenses are not affected. Digital assets and foreign accounts The two areas where the penalties are heaviest and the questions on the return are unavoidable.
Every sale, exchange, or payment received in crypto — Form 1099-DA plus your own exchange records Foreign bank accounts: the bank, the country, the account number and the highest balance during the year FinCEN Form 114 is required if all your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any moment during the year. Foreign financial assets, foreign pensions, and gifts or inheritances from abroad Form 8938 goes with the return once foreign assets pass $50,000 at year end or $75,000 at any point during the year — $100,000 and $150,000 on a joint return, and four times those figures if you live abroad. A foreign gift or trust can mean Form 3520, and a stake in a foreign company Form 5471 or 8865. The penalties here start in the tens of thousands and apply even when no tax is owed. Payments and carryforwards Every line here puts money back. Payments you have already made and unused credits come off the tax itself, dollar for dollar — forget one and you pay it twice. Carried-forward losses work through your income, and they survive only as long as someone keeps track of them.
Not sure which lines apply to you? Most of this list will not apply to any one household. Bring what you have to a free intro call and we will work out what is missing before the season gets busy.
Book a free intro call This checklist is general information for the 2026 tax year, not advice about your situation. Amounts and rules are current as of the date of publication and can change. Your own return may need documents that are not on this list.