If you have your taxes done professionally, your tax preparer may send you a document or system to help you organize the information you need to give them to prepare your return.
By now, you should have received important tax reporting documents from various organizations and agencies. You can stuff them in a box, toss them in a drawer or just let them accumulate on the kitchen counter. But a bit of understanding and organization can go a long way toward reducing the stress of preparing your annual tax return, whether you do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you.
It may be helpful to have a broad knowledge of how your tax return is organized so it can be a model for organizing the documents you need to prepare your return. Generally, your tax return contains these primary areas in order:
A good starting point for creating an organizing system is to create a folder for each of these areas. Taking this step means when you begin preparing your return, related information will be together. It reduces your risk of missing something or having to go back later and update an area of the return you thought was complete.
Everyone’s situation is unique, but let’s look generally at some of the information you will need to collect in the primary areas of your tax return.
INCOME
The first area of your tax return contains sources of income you receive in a year and certain items that are treated as adjustments to income. This area includes income from wages for work you perform, interest and dividends from savings and investments. If you are retired this also includes distributions from taxable retirement accounts and pensions as well as Social Security benefits. Examples of common forms and information you will need include:
Common forms used to report adjustments include:
DEDUCTIONS
The deductions section of the tax return allows you to subtract certain items from your adjusted gross income to reduce the amount of income that is ultimately taxed. Your deduction is applied in one of two ways.
You claim whichever one is larger, but:
Here are examples of forms and documentation you will need to prepare your itemized deductions:
TAXES AND CREDITS
This section of your tax return calculates your total taxes for the year after adjustments to income and applying your deduction. It then applies credits that reduce the total amount owed and subtracts tax payments that you have already made through federal withholding or payment of estimated taxes. Some of the information that is used in completing this section of your return is contained on documents used in other sections, e.g. your W-2 form shows amounts that your employer has withheld for federal taxes. Some information you may need for this area includes:
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
There are other items you may need to complete your return that include:
BONUS TIP
Once your tax return is complete, review the documentation you used to complete it and create a worksheet that lists every item. Use the list as a check-list next year to confirm you have all the information you need to start your return.
A HEAD START ON NEXT YEAR
Getting a tax organization system together is not simple when you are starting out. One tip is to use the preparation of your current year’s return as a template for building your system. If you prepare your own tax return, keep the information you use to prepare your return in the order you use it. When you have completed your return, review the documentation and create or revise your filing system for next year using what you just learned to create a system that will make next year easier.
It is particularly important to start that process now, not in January of 2026, because some information needed to complete your return accumulates throughout the year. Examples are charitable contributions, housing expenses for ministers and childcare expenses. For expenses that occur throughout the year which require receipts to justify them, you may want to create a separate folder for every expense type. A bit of organization today can make tax time more manageable tomorrow.
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