Getting ready for your appointment
A checklist of the documents a preparer needs, and the questions every client gets asked. Print this page and check things off as they arrive. Booklet pages 63–64. ·
Income
- Last year’s federal and Colorado returns, if this preparer didn’t do them
- W-2s from every employer, including a job you left in January
- 1099-INT and 1099-DIV; consolidated brokerage statements (1099-B) with cost basis
- 1099-R for pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals and rollovers; SSA-1099; 1099-G for unemployment
- 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC and 1099-K for contract, gig and marketplace income, with your own records; K-1s
- Rental income and expenses by property; closing statements for property bought or sold
- Form 1099-DA for digital asset sales; W-2G for gambling winnings, with a record of losses
Deductions and credits
- Form 1098 for mortgage interest, and property tax statements
- Charitable gifts: bank records, acknowledgments for gifts of $250 or more, noncash donation lists
- Medical, dental and long-term care costs, and premiums you paid yourself, including Medicare
- Child care costs, with the provider’s name, address and tax ID number
- Form 1098-T for tuition, with what was actually paid; 1098-E for student loan interest
- Estimated tax payments made, with dates and amounts, federal and Colorado
- Car loan interest statement and VIN; final pay stub if the W-2’s tip or overtime boxes look wrong
Life changes
- Marriage, divorce, separation or a death in the household, with the date
- A birth or adoption: the child’s Social Security number and date of birth
- A dependent who moved in or out or started college; a move across state lines; a new job or job loss
Health insurance
- Form 1095-A for coverage through Connect for Health Colorado; the return can’t be filed without it
- HSA contributions and distributions (Forms 5498-SA and 1099-SA)
Retirement
- IRA and Roth contributions made for the year, and any you plan to make before April 15
- Form 5498 with the year-end IRA balance, which sets the required minimum distribution
- Qualified charitable distributions from an IRA (the 1099-R doesn’t show them); Roth conversions
Colorado-specific items
- Pension, annuity and Social Security amounts by person, for the Colorado subtractions
- For the Colorado child tax credit: ages and Social Security numbers of young children
- Any letter from the Colorado Department of Revenue, and the amount of any TABOR refund received
The questions you’ll be asked
Every preparer asks these every year, of every client. Some are required by the IRS; the rest exist because the answer changes the return and no form reports it.
- Did you receive, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of any digital asset? It is on page one of Form 1040 and must be answered. Buying and holding is a no; selling, trading one coin for another, or being paid in crypto is a yes.
- Did you have a financial account in another country, or signature authority over one? Accounts totaling over $10,000 (verify) at any point in the year require a separate FBAR filing, with severe penalties for missing it.
- Did anyone in the household have marketplace health coverage? The return reconciles the advance premium credit on Form 1095-A, and for 2026 there is no cap on repayment if income came in higher than estimated.
- Did the IRS send you an Identity Protection PIN? A return filed without the current year’s PIN is rejected. The PIN is new every January, and the letter is easy to lose.
- Could anyone else claim one of your dependents? A child of separated parents, a parent you support, or a college student with a job can be claimed only once. The second return filed is rejected.
- Did you make estimated tax payments, and when? The IRS sends no statement. A payment left off the return produces a bill; a payment claimed but never made produces a different one.
- Are you planning an IRA or HSA contribution before April 15? A contribution for the prior year can still be made until the deadline, and it can change the refund. The preparer needs to know before filing, not after.
- Did you give to charity directly from an IRA? A qualified charitable distribution isn’t taxable, but the 1099-R reports it as an ordinary withdrawal. Unless told, the preparer taxes it.
- Did you pay anyone to care for a child or dependent so you could work? The credit needs the provider’s name, address and tax ID. A sitter paid in cash counts if she will give her number.
- Did you sell your home, or anything else of value? A home sale is often untaxed under the exclusion but still has to be reported if a 1099-S was issued. Collectibles, land and inherited property have their own rules.
- Did you work in another state, or earn income from one? A few weeks of work across the state line can mean a nonresident return there and a credit on the Colorado return.
- Did you pay a household employee, such as a nanny or caregiver? Wages over the federal threshold mean Schedule H and Colorado unemployment registration, far cheaper to handle on the return than after a letter.
- Did you get a letter from the IRS or the Colorado Department of Revenue this year? A notice often changes a carryover, a payment record or a prior-year balance that the new return has to reflect, and an unanswered one keeps accruing interest.
- Do you want the refund deposited directly, and has your bank changed? Paper checks are no longer the default. A wrong account number means a rejected deposit and a check weeks later.
Behind the scenes
The questions aren’t a formality. The IRS requires a preparer to ask about digital assets and, for the earned income credit, the child credit and head-of-household status, to document the answers and keep them in the file. A preparer who skips the questions and gets it wrong is personally penalized. That is why the same questions come every year, even to clients the preparer has known for decades, and why the honest answer is worth more than the convenient one.