Before you meet your tax preparer: a checklist

Personal information

The IRS suggests keeping these in one place:

• Social Security numbers or ITINs for you and everyone on your return.
• Bank account and routing numbers, for a refund by direct deposit or to pay what you owe.
• Last year's adjusted gross income (AGI) and exact refund amount, if you filed.
• Your current address, and your name as the Social Security Administration has it.
• Your IP PIN, if the IRS gave you one.

Income forms

Every W-2 from every employer, and every 1099 — interest, dividends, brokerage, freelance work, payment apps and marketplaces, unemployment, retirement distributions, Social Security. Add W-2G for gambling winnings, Schedule K-1s from partnerships or S corporations, and records of any digital asset transactions.

Before the meeting, compare this pile with last year's forms. A bank, broker or job from last year with no form this year is either a closed account or a form still on its way.

Records for deductions and credits

• Form 1098 for mortgage interest, and property tax records (if you itemize).
• Charitable donation records (if you itemize).
• Childcare or dependent care expenses, with the provider's details.
• Education costs: tuition statements (Form 1098-T) and receipts.
• Health savings account or flexible spending account records, and Form 1095-A if you had Marketplace coverage.
• Retirement contributions made outside your paycheck.

If you have a side business

Bring statements from banks, payment apps, card processors and online marketplaces, records of checks paid to you, receipts and mileage logs, and the estimated tax payments you made during the year, with dates and amounts.

Organize before the meeting

• Put everything in one folder, paper or digital, and name each file by what it is, who sent it and the year — for example, 2026 W-2 from your employer.
• Bring last year's return. Your preparer can compare it with this year's forms, and the IRS suggests keeping a record of last year's adjusted gross income, which you may need to e-file.
• Write a short list of what changed this year: a new job, a move, a marriage or divorce, a new child, a home purchase or sale, starting a business, selling investments. Changes like these are where follow-up questions often come from.
• Check your IRS wage and income transcript against your pile, and note any form that is listed there but not in your folder.
• Note anything you are unsure about, rather than leaving it out. Your preparer can decide what matters.

Questions worth asking

• What else do you need from me, and by when?
• Is anything on my wage and income transcript that I have not brought?
• Should I adjust my withholding or estimated payments for next year?
• What do I keep, and for how long?

Where Dotcross fits

Dotcross is being built for exactly this step: gathering your documents, checking them against your IRS records, and handing your preparer one organized package. It does not prepare or file returns; your preparer stays in charge of your return.