The single thing that decides whether your return takes one appointment or three is whether your documents are complete when you walk in. Nothing else on this page matters as much as that.
Here is what to gather, in the order you are likely to receive it.
Identification, before anything else
- Photo ID for you and your spouse.
- Social Security cards — the physical cards, for every person who will appear on the return. Names and numbers must match them exactly, and this is the most common reason a return gets rejected.
- If anyone on the return files with an ITIN, the ITIN and its current status. An ITIN not used on a federal return for three consecutive years goes inactive, and renewal takes a Form W-7 and time. Check this in the autumn, not in April.
- Dates of birth for every dependent.
Income documents
- W-2 from each employer.
- 1099 forms in all their varieties: contract work, interest, dividends, retirement distributions, government payments, brokerage sales.
- If you sold digital assets, the new Form 1099-DA. Brokers report 2025 transactions on it and must send you a copy by February 17, 2026.
- Records of income that never generated a form at all. Cash work, rent collected, and side income are still reportable whether or not anyone sent you paperwork.
- Last year's return. It is the fastest way to catch something that existed last year and is missing this year.
Deduction and credit records
- Mortgage interest and property tax statements.
- Charitable contribution receipts.
- Medical expenses, if the year was unusual.
- Childcare costs, with the provider's identification number.
- Education expenses and tuition statements.
Whether these are worth assembling at all depends on whether you will itemize, and for many Florida households the standard deduction wins. If you are unsure which side you are on, the standard-versus-itemized comparison is the thing to settle first.
If you own a business
Bring the year's books, not a folder of receipts. Bank and credit card statements, mileage records, and payroll reports if you have employees. If your bookkeeping has fallen behind, that is worth fixing before February rather than reconstructing under deadline pressure — it is the difference between a return and an archaeology project. We do that as monthly bookkeeping and accounting.
One thing to decide early
Do not file before your documents are complete. The IRS lists filing too early — before every reporting document has arrived — as one of the most common causes of returns that need correcting. A return filed in late January without a 1099 that shows up in February becomes an amended return, and amended returns take longer than simply waiting did.
The deadline, and the extension people misunderstand
For the 2025 tax year the filing deadline is April 15, 2026. If you need more time, you request it by that same date on Form 4868, which you can submit electronically regardless of income, and it gives you until October 15, 2026 to file.
Here is the part that costs people money: an extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. Tax owed is still due April 15. To keep penalties and interest down, you estimate your total liability, subtract what you have already paid, and pay the balance by the original deadline — even though the return itself goes in later.
An extension is a reasonable tool when a document genuinely has not arrived. It is not a way to postpone a payment.
What to keep, and for how long
Keep the records that support any item of income, deduction or credit on your return until the period of limitations for that return runs out. As a general rule that means three years, though several situations extend it.
Some records are worth keeping well past that, because they establish a number you will need much later: home purchase and sale documents, stock transactions, IRA records, and business or rental property documentation. Those are basis records, and basis is the figure nobody can reconstruct for you once the paperwork is gone.
This checklist reflects IRS guidance current as of July 2026 and is general information. Which documents your particular return needs depends on your circumstances.
Bring the folder. We will tell you what is missing.
You do not need to have it all before you call. Come with what you have and we will tell you exactly what is still outstanding, in English or in Spanish — every service we offer is available in both. Then book personal tax preparation once the folder is complete, or call +1 (954) 724-1114 to talk it through first.