Every taxpayer’s situation is unique, and thus it is impossible to list all the items one must bring in for a tax appointment for every type of tax situation.  When in doubt, bring the item in question to your tax appointment. The following is a good general list of the items to bring in with you for your scheduled tax appointment:

 

Prior Year Tax Return Copies

If you are a new client, please bring copies of your last 3 years federal and state income tax returns.  Your Business Needs LLC will review them for FREE, and we may be able to amend mistakes/omissions getting you back additional refunds.

 

Income Statements

Bring all applicable W-2 forms, 1099 forms, interest income, dividend income, K-1 forms, pension or IRA distributions forms, brokerage account forms, social security, and student loan interest forms.

 

Itemized Deductions

If you are planning on itemizing your deductions (Schedule A) please compose a spreadsheet/list summarizing them.  Itemized deductions include: medical expenses, personal property tax, state and local sales taxes, tax preparation fees, custodial fees, financial planning fees, interest on mortgages and home equity loans (bring Form 1098), mortgage insurance premiums, real estate taxes, casualty and theft losses, investment related subscriptions, uniforms, cash and non-cash charitable donations, safe deposit box fees, unreimbursed job related expenses (such as job seeking expenses), cell phone charges, tools, dry cleaning, luggage, PDAs, online service fees, trade journals, travel, meals and entertainment.

 

Dependents

If you plan on claiming dependents, provide all dependent’s full names (as they appear on their social security card), dates of birth, & social security numbers.  

 

IRAs

The amount you contributed to a traditional IRA (Form 4598).  If you converted a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, please supply the amount of any applicable after-tax Traditional IRA contributions you made over the years.

 

Stocks & Mutual Funds

If you sold stocks or mutual funds, please provide  a spreadsheet showing the date you bought each item that was sold along with the total purchase price of each item sold.  Do not assume your cost information is provided on Form 1099. Please carefully review all your stock sales to ensure you have the purchase date and cost information for each stock or mutual fund sold during the year.

 

Estimated Tax Payments

If you made any estimated tax payments this tax year, we will need to know the dates and amounts paid of all federal and state estimated tax payments.

 

Business Rents Paid

Please summarize the rent you paid for business purposes during the tax year and your landlord’s name and address.

 

Moving Expenses

If your move is employment related, please summarize your moving expenses. You can only deduct the cost to move your household goods, storage and the one time trip to make the final move to your new location.

 

Dependent Care Expense

Please provide the names of each care provider, their address, federal identification number or social security number, and the amount paid to each provider. We will also need the names of each child that was cared for and the total amount paid in child care expenses for each child. If you have a nanny and use a nanny tax service to handle the employment taxes, please bring in a completed Schedule H.

 

Self-Employment

Please prepare a simple 1 page income statement which summarizes your gross self employment income for the tax year and your

applicable expenses categorized and summarized by the type of expense (i.e. advertising, equipment, supplies, etc).

 

Rental Property

If you received income from rental property (Schedule E), please prepare a simple 1 page income statement showing the gross rental income you received during the tax year and your applicable expenses categorized and summarized by the type of expense (i.e. advertising, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, repairs, maintenance, condo fees, etc). We’ll also need to know when you started renting the property and how much you originally paid for the property.

 

Higher Education Expenses

If you qualify to deduct your higher education expenses, please summarize how much you paid in tuition and books during the applicable tax year. Please bring in all actual tuition billing statements as well. Amounts paid for tuition may include loans credited to the University. If applicable, please have on hand how much you received in scholarships or fellowships. You can also bring in receipts for computers and peripherals you purchased for school. Note: Form 1098T (Tuition Statement) represents tuition billed during the current tax year. This is not always the number to use. You can only deduct the amount of “qualified tuition” & related fees paid.

 

Business Use of Home

If you used a portion of your home for business use, please provide a square footage calculation of the area used for business. In addition, we will need to know the date you began using the space for business, how much you originally paid for the property and a summary of your utility expenses (gas, electric, oil, condo fees, landscaping, snowplowing, maintenance, etc), major home improvements and direct office expenses (repairs, business phone, etc).

 

Residential Energy Efficient Improvements

Please provide the cost of the following applicable items: high-efficiency heating & cooling systems, water heaters, windows, doors, insulation, qualified solar electric property, solar water heating property, fuel cell property, small wind energy property and geothermal heat pump property.

 

Miscellaneous

Finally, please bring any other official tax documents you received not mentioned above. When in doubt, bring it!  

If you have any other questions with respect to what to bring to your appointment, please contact our professional assigned to your account directly.  Or you can contact us here, or by calling us at 718-374-6777.  Thank You for considering Your Business Needs LLC.