Preparing for Your Tax Appointment

It is difficult to stay organized the whole year. But, staying organized will help you immensely at tax time. Professional tax preparers dread the people that bring in all of the receipts in a shoebox. Don’t be one of those people! Bringing in organized documents and records will make the tax process run much faster. Kaufmann Advisors can not only help you do your taxes, but they can help you find an organizational system that works for you and your family.

Records to Keep

Many people are not aware of the receipts that they need to turn into their tax preparer. What you bring in will depend a lot on your lifestyle and income sources. For example, if you rent out property you will need to bring in records of the income and expenses related to the property. If you have higher medical expenses, you will need to bring in proof of those expenses for your itemized deductions. Below are a few more examples of the records that you should keep to bring to your tax preparer on a yearly basis.

• Business expenses
• Retirement fund contributions
• Health Insurance payments
• Unreimbursed business expenses (including business mileage)
• Financial planning fees
• Real estate taxes
• Casualty and theft losses
• Cash and Non-cash charitable donations
• Job seeking expenses
• Education expenses
• Child care expenses

The list could go on and on. Your professional tax preparer can help you decide which records you need to keep and bring back from year-to-year. Everyone’s records are slightly different, so be sure to talk to your tax preparer about your lifestyle so he or she can determine which deductions and credits you can take.

What to Bring to our Tax Preparation Session

Basically, you should bring all of the records that you have been saving throughout the year. You should also bring all of the forms that various financial institutions have sent you. These may include:

• W-2s from your place of employment
• 1099 forms including those from independent contractor work, dividends, interest, and sale of stock
• 1098 forms for real property mortgages
• 1098-T from educational institutions
• Self-employment information like 1099-MISC or schedule K-1
• Proof of estimated tax payments

Generally, any tax form you receive in the mail or online should be provided to your tax preparer. Your tax preparer will also ask you about other sources of income and expenses, even if you do not have a form for these things. Even though you do not have a form, you must still report certain information to the IRS.

Items to Bring When You Have a New Tax Preparer

In addition to all the things above, you also need to bring some very basic information if you switch tax preparers. You should bring the following information about you and your spouse.

• Your Social Security number and tax ID
• Your spouse’s social security number and tax ID
• Your previous tax returns for at least two years (this may vary depending on the tax preparer)

If you are an international taxpayer, or you’re here on a student visa, you will need to bring in additional identification information. Your tax professional can help you decide which documents you need.

You also need to provide information about the people that may be included on your tax return. This could include your children, family members that you provide for, or other people that live with you. You will need their dates of birth and Social Security numbers or their tax ID numbers. You may also need proof of their income if you are claiming them as a dependent. In some special circumstances, you may also need additional forms showing your ability to claim a child on your tax return. This might apply after a divorce or in custody disputes.

When you use the same tax preparer year after year, they will retain most of this information. That way, you do not have to bring in proof of this information each year. This makes for less paperwork and a lighter load. As your tax preparer gets to know you better, he or she will be able to find you more deductions and credits based on your lifestyle.

Getting Organized Saves You Time and Money at Tax Time

If you bring in organized documents and records, your tax preparer will thank you for it. He or she will spend less time on your return, and you can get your refund faster. Kaufmann Advisors can help you find all of the credits and deductions that you deserve by designing an organizational system that works for you and your family. Click the Contact link below if you are in the San Francisco, CA or the surrounding area. You can also find out more about us by clicking the profile link below.