The complete checklist for your tax appointment

A tax appointment goes faster and ends with fewer “we will need to come back to that” moments when the right papers arrive with you. Here is what to gather before your appointment. You will not need every item. Skim the list, pull what applies, and put it in one folder.

What do you need for identification?

• Photo ID for you and your spouse if filing together.
• Social Security cards or ITIN letters for everyone on the return, including children. Numbers typed from memory cause rejected returns.
• Last year’s federal and California returns if we did not prepare them. They tell us about carryovers, depreciation, and anything that changed.
• Your bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit, from a check or the bank’s app, not from memory.
• Any IRS Identity Protection PIN letter you received this year.

What income documents do you need?

• W-2 from every job, even one you left in January.
• 1099-NEC or 1099-K for contract, gig, or app based work.
• 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, and 1099-B from banks and brokerages. For stock or crypto sales, bring the statement that shows what you paid, not just what you sold for.
• 1099-R for pensions, IRA withdrawals, or a 401(k) rollover.
• SSA-1099 for Social Security.
• 1099-G for unemployment or a state refund.
• Rental income and expenses for any property you own, including the closing statement if you bought or sold it this year.
• K-1s from a partnership, S corporation, or trust. These often arrive late; tell us if one is coming.
• Records of cash income. It is still income.

What do you need if you have a business or side income?

Schedule C is where a sole proprietor’s business goes, and it needs more than a stack of receipts.

• Total income for the year, from all sources, including what did not get a 1099.
• Expenses sorted by category: supplies, advertising, phone, software, insurance, rent, contract labor, and so on. A spreadsheet or a bookkeeping report is ideal. A shoebox works but takes longer.
• Vehicle records. For the standard mileage method you need the business miles, the total miles, and a log. The IRS publishes the rate each year on its standard mileage rates page. For tax year 2025 the business rate is 70 cents per mile. For tax year 2026 it is 72.5 cents per mile for January through June and 76 cents per mile for July through December.
• Home office: square footage of the space and of the whole home, plus rent or mortgage, utilities, and insurance.
• Any equipment bought during the year, with the date and price.
• 1099s you issued to subcontractors.

If the books are not in order, our bookkeeping and accounting service can rebuild the year from bank statements before the return is prepared.

What deductions and credits need paperwork?

• Form 1098 for mortgage interest, and the property tax bill.
• Childcare provider’s name, address, tax ID, and the amount paid.
• Form 1098-T for tuition, plus receipts for books and required supplies.
• Student loan interest, Form 1098-E.
• Charitable donations: receipts for cash, and a list with values for goods.
• Medical expenses if they were large this year, including insurance premiums you paid yourself.
• Form 1095-A if you had Covered California insurance. The return cannot be finished without it.
• IRA or HSA contributions made for the year.
• Estimated tax payments you made, with dates and amounts, to the IRS and to the FTB.

The standard deduction changes every year and is published by the IRS. Many people in the Valley come out ahead with the standard deduction, but we only know that after seeing the mortgage interest and property tax.

What does California need that the IRS does not?

Form 540 has a few items of its own:

• If you rented your home all year, bring your landlord’s name and address and the total rent paid. California has a renter’s credit with income limits set by the FTB.
• Proof of health coverage for every month, since California has its own coverage requirement.
• Any California withholding of its own, such as real estate withholding on a property sale (Form 593).

What if you got a letter during the year?

Bring every IRS or FTB notice, even the ones you already handled. A CP2000 or an FTB adjustment from a prior year often changes what carries into this one. If a letter is still open, say so at the start of the appointment so it does not get buried under this year’s return. Our tax audit support and notice response service picks it up from there.

What should you do if something is missing?

Come anyway. Most missing forms can be replaced. Employers and banks can reissue them, and the IRS wage and income transcript lists everything reported under your Social Security number. We will start with what you have and mark what is outstanding. A mileage log is the item that cannot be rebuilt later, so start one now if you drive for work.

Our individual tax preparation page explains how the appointment works from the moment you walk in. The office is on Tampa Ave in Reseda, a few minutes off the 101.

When to call

Call (818) 401-7468 to book, and ask any question about this list before you come in. If a form is delayed and the deadline is close, call so we can file an extension. The contact page also works for quick questions.