Key Takeaways
- If you have income from work, your employer should provide you with either a W-2 or 1099-NEC form showing both your income and any withholding.
- Your investment income and income from other sources will be reflected on other 1099 forms.
- Some of these documents will be available during the course of the year, and you should expect most of them no later than Jan. 31 of the new year.
By starting to gather this year’s tax documents now, you’ll not only avoid a last-minute scramble next April but possibly discover some ways to cut your taxes while there is still time. Here are the key documents you’ll need to round up, with details on when they should become available and advice on keeping them well organized.
Income-Related Documents
Income from employment is reported on two types of documents: W-2 forms for employees and 1099-NEC forms for self-employed or independent contractors. Simply put, if you have a regular, full- or part-time job, you’ll likely receive a W-2, while if you freelance, you’ll likely get a 1099-NEC.
Employers must provide annual W-2 forms, also known as Wage and Tax Statements, to any employee who earned $600 or more or whose income was subject to withholding for income, Social Security, or Medicare taxes. The form will show all of those amounts, as well as any contributions you made to the employer’s retirement plan.
You should expect to receive W-2 forms by Jan 31. If they haven’t arrived by then (or soon after), it’s worth checking with the employer to make sure they haven’t gone astray.
Income Reported on 1099 Forms
Any employer who paid you $600 or more as an independent contractor must provide you with a 1099-NEC form by Jan. 31. Like a W-2, this form reports your income as well as any withholding, and it’s worth inquiring if you haven’t received it within a reasonable time frame.
In addition to money from employment, known in tax parlance as “earned income,” you may have so-called “unearned income” from investments or other sources. That income should be reported to you on a variety of forms, including:
While most of these forms should be provided to you by Jan. 31 (and they may also be available online), K-1s aren’t due until the 15th day of the third month after the end of the entity’s tax year. For example, if it uses the calendar year as its tax year, you might not receive a K-1 until March 15.
Warning
In most cases, the entity that paid you will share that information with the IRS, so the agency can see if you failed to report it.
Retirement-Related Documents
If you have retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or an IRA, you should receive annual statements showing your transactions for the year.
As mentioned above, the 1099-R is used by financial institutions to report any income of $10 or more that you received from sources such as pensions, profit-sharing plans, individual retirement accounts, or annuities.
Equally important, 1099-R forms also show any money you had withheld for tax purposes when you took your distributions. You’ll want to ensure you account for those withholdings when you fill out your tax return for the year because they represent taxes you’ve already paid.
If you’ve begun collecting Social Security retirement benefits, the Social Security Administration will provide you with an SSA-1099 form (or SSA-1042S if you’re a noncitizen). Those forms are sent out each January and are also available online as of Feb. 1.
Even if you simply added to your retirement accounts during the year and don’t have any withdrawals to report, you should receive documentation for your records. In the case of individual retirement accounts, for example, the financial institution should furnish you with an annual Form 5498.
Important
You can fund an IRA for the past year as late as the filing date for your tax return, typically April 15 of the following year.
Proof for Deductions and Credits
Tax deductions and tax credits can reduce the tax you have to pay, but only if you remember to claim them.
Tax Deductions
Among the major expenses that can qualify for a tax deduction are mortgage interest, state and local income and property taxes, and charity donations.
You have a choice of either adding up all of your eligible deductions and itemizing them or simply taking the standard deduction. The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July 2025, also significantly changed the maximum deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), raising the previous $10,000 cap to $40,000. As a result, people in high-tax states may find that their SALT deduction plus mortgage interest and charitable contributions exceed the standard deduction, making it advantageous
You should save all the relevant backups for whichever type of deduction you claim. For example, mortgage interest is shown on the Form 1098 that your lender should send you by January 31 of each year if your payments come to $600 or more. If the lender paid your property taxes out of an escrow account, it should provide you with that information, as well. If you instead paid your property taxes directly to one or more taxing bodies at various points during the year, you’ll need to save those separate receipts.
State and local income taxes eligible for a deduction include any amounts your employer withheld from your paycheck for that purpose, any estimated tax payments you made on your own, and any taxes for the prior year you paid when you filed your most recent tax return.
In lieu of state and local income and property taxes, taxpayers also have the option of deducting their sales taxes, so those can be worth keeping track of, too, especially if you didn’t pay a lot in state or local income taxes but had major expenses, such as a new car, that you paid sales tax on.
Tax Credits
If you expect to be eligible for any tax credits (which, unlike deductions, reduce your taxes on a dollar-for-dollar basis), you’ll obviously want to save any relevant paperwork for those, too.
For example, students or their parents may be eligible to claim an American Opportunity Tax Credit or a Lifelong Learning Credit for higher-education expenses up to specified limits. The educational institution should provide the necessary documentation to you on a 1098-T form by Jan. 31.
There are also several “green” credits intended to incentivize reduced energy consumption, although they are largely being phased out after the 2025 tax year. For example, if you purchased a new electric vehicle before Sept. 30, 2025, you may be eligible for a credit of up to $7,500. Similarly, taxpayers who made certain energy-efficient home improvements before Dec. 31, 2025, may be eligible for credits to cover a portion of their costs. In these cases, you want to save all receipts and any other information to prove that your purchase qualifies.
Tip
The IRS recommends keeping your tax records for at least three years—and longer in some cases.
Business or Side Income Records
If you have your own business, either full-time or as a sideline, you’ll usually need to file a tax return attachment known as Schedule C, listing both your income and expenses for that business.
In many cases, your clients will provide you with 1099-NEC forms at the end of the year, but it’s a good idea to maintain your records for comparison purposes (you don’t want to pay tax on income you never received).
You can be eligible for a wide range of deductions when you’re your own boss. Those include the equipment and supplies you purchase, as well as a portion of expenses related to your home and car if you use them in your work. Rather than just stuffing all of your receipts into a box to deal with at tax time, it’s helpful to record those expenses as they occur so you don’t miss out on any.
You may also need to pay quarterly estimated taxes, especially if you aren’t already contributing a sufficient amount through tax withholding at a primary job. Making estimated tax payments can help you avoid penalties for underpayment and a huge tax bill when you finally file your return for the year. You can pay estimated taxes online at the IRS website and download a receipt for your records.
Family and Life Changes
When you fill out your tax return, you’ll be asked to provide some personal information about your family. For example, to claim anyone as a dependent, even a newly arrived baby, you’ll need to supply a Social Security number for them. Claiming children who are 16 or younger as dependents makes you eligible for a Child Tax Credit, so write those numbers down and keep them handy.
Working parents can also be eligible for the Child and Dependent Care Credit if they need to pay someone to look after children under age 13. This credit is calculated based on your income and your qualifying expenses, so be sure to save those receipts.
In addition, depending on how you obtain your health insurance coverage (such as from the federal Health Insurance Marketplace or a private employer), you may receive a 1095-A, 1095-B, or 1095-C form from the provider after the end of the year. Sometimes, you will need information on that form to complete your tax return. In others, the form will prove that you had coverage during the year. Either way, you should hang onto it.
Staying Organized
Organizing your tax documents for ready reference doesn’t require an elaborate system. You’ll likely have digital and printed forms and receipts, so you may need to keep two files. Of course, you can scan all of your paper documents to create a single digital file, or print out all of your digital documents so you have everything on paper. Whatever works for you.
It can also be helpful to sort your documents into broad categories, such as earned income, investment income, receipts for potentially deductible expenses, charitable contributions, and so forth. In addition to these documents, your bank and credit card statements can supply relevant information and are especially useful in instances where you didn’t receive a receipt or somehow managed to lose it. So save those, too.
The Bottom Line
To file your annual income tax return on time—and get every tax break you’re entitled to—it pays to keep track of the documents you need and ensure you receive them when they become available. Those include forms related to your income from work or investments, as well as receipts or other back-up for claiming tax deductions and credits to reduce your taxable income. Save those documents, and you may save yourself some money.
