5 documents you should have ready before your tax appointment

Updated July 2026 · 5 min read

Every tax season, the same pattern repeats: the appointment starts and one document is missing. It gets postponed, rescheduled, and the return ends up filed later than it needed to be. Here are the five documents that are almost always missing, organized by situation.

1. ID and Social Security number or ITIN

Yours and anyone else's included on the return (spouse, dependents). Without this, nothing can be filed.

2. Income forms

• W-2 if you work for an employer
• 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC if you're self-employed or did independent work
• 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, or 1099-B if you had interest, dividends, or investment sales

3. Deductible expenses if you're self-employed

If you're self-employed or run a single-member LLC, keep a record (even a simple one) of business expenses: mileage, equipment, supplies, advertising, the work-use share of internet or phone. The more organized this arrives, the faster we can calculate what you can actually deduct.

4. Housing and education documents

• Form 1098 if you paid mortgage interest
• Property tax receipts
• 1098-T if you or a dependent paid college tuition

5. Last year's return

Even if nothing changed year to year, having it on hand helps compare figures and catch anything left out.

If something's missing, say so before the appointment

It's better to flag that a document is coming late than to show up without it. We can prepare the return in stages or adjust the timeline, but only if we know ahead of time.