Blog - The Real Estate CPA

What Documents Do I Need to Provide my Tax Preparer?

Written by Giana Caliendo | Dec 20, 2018

Take the stress out of filing your taxes by hiring an accountant to prepare your return!

If CPAs could gather all your documents for you, we would! But unfortunately we cannot – so here is a checklist to help you gather many common items that your CPA will ask you to provide to prepare your tax return. All of these documents will not apply to you – so don’t worry if you do not have many of these documents.

Income-Related Documents:

Employed

  1. W-2 (Wage & Salary Income)

Unemployed

  1. 1099-G (Unemployment & State Refunds)

Rental Income

  1. Income Statement (Records of Income & Expenses)
  2. Rental Asset Information
    1. Purchase HUDs
    2. Sale HUDs
    3. 1099-S (Proceeds from Sale of Real Estate)
    4. Date Placed in Service
    5. 1098s – Mortgage interest statement
    6. Taxes & Insurance paid for each property owned

Self-Employed

  1. 1099-MISC (Self employment and other various types of income)
  2. Schedule K-1s (partnerships, trusts, S corporations or estates)
  3. Home Office Square Footage
  4. Income Statement for Business (Record of Income & Expenses)

Retirement Income

  1. 1099-R (Distributions from individual retirement plans, 401(k) plans, and other retirement saving plans)
  2. SSA-1099 (Social Security Benefits)
  3. RRB-1099 (Railroad Retirement Benefits)

Savings &  Investment Income

  1. 1099-B (Sales of stocks, bonds & other investments)
  2. 1099-DIV (Dividends)
  3. 1099-INT (Interest Income)
  4. 1099-OID (Original Issue Discount on Bonds)
  5. 1099-SA (Distributions from Health Savings Account)
  6. Record of Estimated Payments Made

Other Income Streams

  1. W-2G (Gambling Winnings)
  2. Alimony paid/received with Ex-spouse’s name and SSN

Deductions-Related Documents:

Home Ownership

  1. Form 1098 (Mortgage Interest)
  2. Real Estate Tax Bills
  3. Personal Property Tax, such as car registration

Charitable Contributions

  1. Support for cash donated to organizations
  2. Support for non-cash contributions
    1. 1098-C (charitable contribution of vehicles)
    2. Clothing, furniture, etc. (ex – Goodwill receipt)
  3. Amounts of miles driven for charitable or medical purposes

Health Insurance

  1. 1095-A if you enrolled in an insurance plan through the Marketplace (Exchange)
  2. 1095-B and/or 1095-C if you had insurance coverage through any other source (employer, insurance company, government health plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, etc)

Other Deductions

  1. Amounts paid for healthcare insurance and to doctors, dentists, hospitals
  2. 1098-E (Student Loan Interest)
  3. 1098-T (Tuition for Higher Education)
  4. Child care Expense
  5. Amount paid for preparation of last years tax return
  6. Receipts for classroom expenses (educators K-12)

Accounting

If you have a Quickbooks Online or Xero account where you keep your books for rentals, flips or any other kind of business, make sure your give your accountant access. This helps speed the process up and avoids us from bugging you with emails on questions about your books.

Here is a link on how to add an accountant to your books for QBO: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/community/Account-management/How-to-add-or-remove-an-accountant-user/td-p/186006

Here is a link on how to add an accountant to your books for Xero: https://central.xero.com/s/article/Add-a-new-user-to-your-organisation

Bottom Line

Of course, there are many, many more documents, but these are some of the most common ones! If you can go through the list and gather as much information from here as you can you will be in great shape. Your CPA will let you know if they need any additional information, but I know they will be impressed by how prepared you were for this tax season if you go through this list.
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