What to put in the folder before you call.

Most delayed returns are not delayed by complexity. They are delayed by a missing 1099-B, a closing statement, or a crypto CSV. The list below is the one we send in January. Use the Tax Center checklist if your facts are more specific.

Everyone

Last year’s return (if we did not prepare it), a photo of the driver’s licenses for every adult on the return, Social Security cards for new dependents, and a voided check if the refund routing changed. Identity-theft PIN if the IRS assigned one — we cannot e-file without it.

Income

W-2s, 1099-NEC, 1099-K, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-B with the cost-basis statement, K-1s (we can wait a week on K-1s; we cannot invent them), unemployment 1099-G, and Social Security 1099. Crypto: a full-year CSV from the exchange, not a screenshot of the December balance.

The house and the practice

Form 1098 for the mortgage, property-tax bill, closing disclosure if you bought or sold, Form 1098-T and 1098-E, and the mileage log if you are claiming a vehicle. For the business: year-end bank and credit-card statements, payroll reports, and the sales-tax filings. If the books are with us, skip the statements. We already have them.

Drop the folder at the front desk or use the upload link we send after the engagement letter. Incomplete files go into a holding queue. Complete files go onto a preparer’s desk the same week.