Tax Preparation Checklist: What to Bring

• Photo identification for you and, if filing jointly, your spouse
• Social Security or ITIN numbers for everyone appearing on the return, including dependants
• Last year’s filed federal and state returns, if we did not prepare them
• Bank account and routing details for direct deposit or payment

The prior-year return matters more than people expect. It carries forward figures — depreciation, capital loss carryovers, credits — that are easy to lose track of and expensive to reconstruct.

• Mortgage interest and property tax statements
• Charitable contribution records, including acknowledgement letters for larger gifts
• Medical and dental expenses, if they may be significant relative to your income
• Student loan interest and tuition statements
• Childcare costs, including the provider’s identifying details
• Retirement account contributions made outside payroll
• Records of estimated tax payments made during the year, with dates and amounts

Tell us about life events even where no document exists. Marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a house bought or sold, a move between states, a new business, a business closed, a significant gift given or received, retirement — all of these change a return, and several of them change it substantially.

The single most useful thing you can bring is a short note of what was different about this year compared to last. It reliably surfaces things a document checklist never would.