Need to Know Tax The companion to Income Tax 2026 · Federal & Colorado

The organizer

Not a form to fill in: a checklist to tick, one sheet front and back. Find the situations that describe your year, gather what each one lists, and bring the pile. Each heading links to the article that explains why. Print this organizer · The full document list and the questions you’ll be asked

Everyone brings these

  • Last year’s federal and Colorado returns, every page, if this preparer didn’t do them
  • Every W-2, 1099 and 1098 that arrived, and a note of any income that came with no form
  • Dates of birth and Social Security cards for everyone on the return, including a newborn
  • A voided check or the routing and account numbers for your refund; paper checks are ending
  • Any letter from the IRS or the Colorado Department of Revenue, unanswered
  • Your IP PIN notice (CP01A), if anyone on the return has one
  • What changed this year: marriage, divorce, a death, a birth, a move, someone moved in or out, a new job or a lost one

Working for wages

W-2 jobs, two earners, a job change during the year

  • Every W-2, including a job that lasted weeks
  • Final pay stub if the W-2’s tip or overtime box is blank or looks like the whole overtime wage
  • Car loan interest statement and the VIN for a new car bought on a loan since 2025
  • Both spouses’ pay stubs if the refund was a surprise; the W-4 fix is figured on the household

Retired

Social Security, pensions, IRA withdrawals

  • SSA-1099 for each spouse, kept separate; box 5 is the number that matters
  • Every 1099-R, by spouse, with the code in box 7
  • Form 5498 or the December 31 statement for every IRA, which sets next year’s RMD
  • Qualified charitable distributions: the custodian’s confirmation and the charity’s letter; the 1099-R won’t show them
  • Estimated payments made, with dates, federal and Colorado; the IRS sends no statement
  • Your W-4V withholding election on Social Security, or a note that there is none

On Medicare, or starting within two years

Premium surcharges are set by income from two years earlier

  • The latest Medicare premium letter from Social Security
  • Tax-exempt interest from 1099-INT and 1099-DIV; it counts here and for Social Security
  • Any planned sale, withdrawal or Roth conversion, so it can be sized to the lines
  • If income dropped after retirement, a death or a divorce: the date and the paperwork, for Form SSA-44

Marketplace health insurance

Connect for Health Colorado coverage; the return can’t be filed without this

  • Form 1095-A, every page, for every policy the household had
  • Any 1095-B or 1095-C showing months an employer plan was offered
  • The return of any dependent who had income and must file; their income counts toward the cliff
  • If an adult child on your policy files separately: both returns’ information

Children and other dependents

Child credit, earned income credit, head of household

  • Each child’s Social Security card and date of birth; for a child born 2025 or later, the SSN for Form 4547
  • Separated parents: nights the child spent with you, the custody order, a signed Form 8332 if the other parent claims
  • Something showing the child’s address with yours: school or medical records
  • For a supported parent or relative: their income and what you paid toward their support

Child care

Day care, camps, a nanny; the credit grew for 2026

  • Each provider’s name, address and tax ID, and what you paid to each
  • Your W-2, for the dependent care FSA amount in box 10
  • For a nanny or regular sitter in your home: wages paid by quarter, for the household employment rules

College and student loans

Tuition, 529 withdrawals, loan interest, forgiveness

  • Form 1098-T from each school, and the student account statement showing what was actually paid and when
  • Form 1099-Q for 529 withdrawals, and the bills they paid
  • Scholarship letters; receipts for required books and supplies
  • Form 1098-E from each loan servicer; a forgiveness notice if a loan was written off
  • CollegeInvest contributions by anyone in the family, with the beneficiary’s name

Homeowner, or thinking of itemizing

Mortgage, property tax, the $40,400 SALT cap

  • Form 1098 from each lender, and the closing statement for a loan taken out or refinanced this year
  • Property tax statements for every property, and the ownership tax line on vehicle registrations
  • Colorado income tax paid during the year: withholding, estimates, and last year’s balance paid in April
  • Medical totals if it was a big year, including Medicare, supplement and long-term care premiums

Charitable giving

Itemizers and, new for 2026, non-itemizers too

  • Year-end statements from your church and regular charities; a letter for any single gift of $250 or more
  • Bank or card records for smaller cash gifts; payroll giving on the W-2
  • Receipts and a list for noncash drop-offs; Form 1098-C for a vehicle
  • For stock gifts: the brokerage confirmation and what you paid for the shares

Investments and crypto

Brokerage accounts, stock sales, digital assets

  • Every 1099-B with the supplemental pages listing each sale and its basis
  • For sales marked “basis not reported”: purchase records, or the inheritance or gift paperwork
  • Last year’s return, for the capital loss carryforward
  • Form 1099-DA and the exchange’s full transaction download; wallet-to-wallet transfers so they aren’t mistaken for sales

Saving for retirement

IRA and Roth contributions, conversions, HSAs

  • IRA and Roth contributions made for the year, which year they’re for, and whether deductible was intended
  • Form 1099-R for any conversion; last year’s Form 8606 for basis
  • For a backdoor Roth: whether any other traditional, SEP, SIMPLE or rollover IRA exists anywhere
  • HSA: W-2 box 12 code W, Form 1099-SA, and whether coverage was self-only or family, by month

Side income, gig work, selling online

1099-NEC, 1099-K, Etsy, eBay, Uber, a craft business

  • Your own record of gross receipts for the year, not just the 1099s that arrived
  • Every 1099-K with its monthly breakdown, and a note of which payments were personal
  • Expenses by category with receipts; a mileage log with dates (the rate changed July 1)
  • For personal items sold: roughly what you paid for them
  • Bank or card statements for the activity’s account; the last few years’ results if it has lost money

A death in the family

A spouse, a parent; the final return and what comes after

  • Several certified copies of the death certificate, and the last return filed
  • Letters of appointment from the court, or the trust document
  • Every 1099, W-2 and 1098 arriving in the deceased’s name; they keep coming through February
  • Account statements for the month of death; beneficiary designations on each retirement account
  • A date-of-death value for real estate and brokerage accounts; medical and funeral bills

Gifts and inheritances

Large gifts given, property or accounts received

  • Any gift over $19,000 to one person this year, including a down payment, a car or a forgiven loan
  • For property or stock given: what you paid and when; for property inherited and sold: the date-of-death value
  • Any prior Forms 709; whether a Form 706 was filed for portability when a spouse died
  • For an inherited IRA: the date of death, your relationship, and whether the owner had started RMDs

Gambling and sports betting

Apps, casinos, lottery; only 90% of losses count from 2026

  • Every W-2G, including those delivered inside the app by email
  • Annual win/loss statements from every app and player’s card account
  • A gambling log if you kept one; withholding shown on the W-2Gs, federal and Colorado

Debt forgiven, a foreclosure, a short sale

Forms 1099-C and 1099-A; the insolvency test

  • Every 1099-C and 1099-A, with the date and amount
  • Statements for everything you owned and everything you owed in the month of the cancellation
  • For a bankruptcy: the discharge order; for a foreclosure: the settlement statement and what you paid for the house
  • For student loans: the servicer’s notice and which program

Moved to or from Colorado

Part-year residents, two state returns

  • The date of the move, and which income was earned before and after
  • Pension and IRA statements, since Colorado taxes them from the day you arrive, with its subtractions
  • The other state’s withholding and any estimated payments made there
  • If you carried the senior property tax exemption: the county’s paperwork

An IRS letter, a rejected return, identity theft

Notices, holds, someone filed in your name

  • The letter itself, unanswered, with its notice number and response date
  • If e-filing was rejected: the rejection code and the date
  • If theft is confirmed: the IdentityTheft.gov report, and photo ID for the paper filing
  • Your IRS Online Account login, or authorization to pull a transcript, so what the IRS has can be seen

Still missing something? Write it here so the return isn’t filed without it. Forms 1099 arrive through February; Form 5498 and 5498-SA arrive in May and can be reconstructed from statements.

From needtoknowtax.com, the companion to Income Tax 2026 · Need to Know · Federal & Colorado. Each heading on the web version links to the article that explains why the item matters. General information, not advice about your situation.