TAX CHECKLIST- Check It Twice!

With the IRS announcing the start of accepting and processing 2022 returns on January 23, 2023. Tax filings official Opening Day is just one week away. Hopefully, in the coming weeks you will begin to receive and gather the usual tax documents for preparation, such as W-2’s & 1099’s. However, sometimes it is the non-standard documents that get forgotten, until asked for by a tax preparer. Or get inadvertently not included on your return if you are self-preparing your returns. Some examples of these documents are 1098 mortgage interest, 1098-E student loan interest, 1098-T education cost or 1095-B or C health insurance.

Not having some of these documents and utilizing the information on them for tax preparation could result in missed deductions and/or credits. It also could lead to errors on your filed return prompting the IRS to contact you by letter for corrections or to notify you of your return be recalculated.

Therefore, it is extremely important when preparing to either file your taxes on your own or connect with a tax professional for filing, you check to make sure you have received or gathered both the standard and non-standard documents. This is where the utilization of a tax document checklist can be very beneficial.

A checklist of tax documents that may or may not be needed for filing your tax returns can easily be found by googling tax checklist. We even have a couple on our website under our checklist tab. These checklists can be very general for standard returns or very specific, like for self-employed individuals or rental property or business owners. The lists can assist in making sure all available credits or deductions that apply to your tax situation are considered and even alert you to ones you were not aware of applying.

So, get a hold of a checklist and check it twice to make sure you have all the necessary documents.