Bring one folder. This page tells you exactly what goes in it.

Nearly every return that takes two appointments instead of one takes two because a document nobody mentioned was sitting in a drawer. So here is the whole list, sorted by situation rather than alphabetically, with the form numbers. Pack it from this page and we will be finished in an hour.

Call (816) 555-0129

The folder

Seven tabs. Most people need two or three of them.

Anything marked can be pulled is retrievable from the IRS transcript if you cannot find it, so a missing one is not a reason to postpone the appointment. Anything marked you only exists in one place and only you can get it.

Tab 1 · Everyone

Nobody skips this tab.

Photo identificationAnd one for your spouse if filing jointly.you only
Social security cardsFor everyone on the return, including children.you only
W-2One from every employer, including a job held three weeks.can be pulled
Last year's returnIf I did not prepare it. The whole thing, not the summary page.you only
1099-INT and 1099-DIVBank and brokerage interest and dividends.can be pulled
Bank routing and account numberA voided cheque is easiest. This is how a refund arrives.you only

Tab 2 · If you own the house

Also if you sold one, refinanced, or paid it off this year.

1098Mortgage interest, from the servicer.can be pulled
Property tax receiptThe county receipt, not the assessment notice.you only
Closing statementIf you bought, sold or refinanced. Every page.you only
Energy improvement invoicesWindows, doors, insulation, heat pump, water heater.you only

Tab 3 · If there are children

Including a child who turned seventeen, which changes the credit.

Child care statementWith the provider's employer identification number on it.you only
1098-TCollege tuition. The student prints this from the school portal.can be pulled
1098-EStudent loan interest paid.can be pulled
Custody or divorce decreeOnly if who claims the child is not obvious. Bring the pages that say.you only

Tab 4 · If you work for yourself

A farm, a shop, a side job, one 1099, or a hobby that started making money.

1099-NEC and 1099-KContract work and card or app payments.can be pulled
Income totalEverything taken in, including cash nobody sent a form for.you only
Expense list by categoryA spreadsheet, a ledger or a shoebox. All three are workable.you only
Mileage logBusiness miles and total miles. An app export is fine.you only
Equipment bought over $500Invoice and date placed in service.you only
Estimated payments madeDates and amounts, federal and Missouri.can be pulled

Tab 5 · If money moved in retirement

A withdrawal, a rollover, a first year of social security, or an inherited account.

1099-RAny distribution, including one you rolled straight over.can be pulled
SSA-1099Social security benefits.can be pulled
5498Contributions made to an IRA.can be pulled
1099-BSales of stock, with the cost basis pages behind it.can be pulled

Tab 6 · If you bought your own health insurance

This is the single most commonly forgotten document and it stops a return dead.

1095-AMarketplace insurance. Without it the return cannot be filed at all.you only
1095-B or 1095-CEmployer or other coverage. Useful, not blocking.can be pulled
HSA records, 1099-SA and 5498-SAContributions in and money out.can be pulled

Tab 7 · If something changed

The tab that catches what the other six miss. Tell me about any of these even without paper.

Married, divorced or widowedChanges the filing status and often the outcome more than anything else here.tell me
Moved into or out of MissouriDates. There may be two state returns.tell me
A letter from the IRS or the stateBring it unopened if that is how it is. Do not throw it away.you only
Someone diedA final return may be due, and it is not the same as yours.tell me
Identity protection PINSix digits, mailed in December. The return rejects without it.you only

If a tab does not apply, skip it. Most households need tabs 1, 2 and 3 and are done. Nobody has ever needed all seven in the same year, and if you think you do, telephone first and we will sort out which of them are real before you spend a Saturday looking.

Fees

What it costs, in advance, in writing

Priced by what is on the return, not by the hour and never as a share of your refund. You are told the figure before any work starts and it does not move afterwards unless something is found that changes which line you are on, which is rare and is a conversation, not a surprise.

Fee schedule, current season, federal and one state included
Return	Typically means	Fee
1040, standard deduction	Wages, a little interest, nothing else	$185
1040, itemised	A house, charity, medical, state and local tax	$265
Add Schedule C	Self employment, a side job, one 1099	+$150
Add Schedule E	A rental property, per property	+$110
Add Schedule F	Farm income and expense	+$190
Second state return	Moved, or worked across the line	+$65
1120-S or 1065	An S corporation or a partnership	from $650
Monthly bookkeeping	Small business, includes payroll filings	from $240 a month
Amended return	Fixing a year already filed	$140
Answering an IRS letter	For a return I prepared	no charge

A return for a full time student or someone over seventy five who has only social security and one 1099-R is $60, and that has not gone up in nine years.

Dates

Every deadline that applies to a person or a small business here

31 January
W-2 and 1099 out to your people
If you paid a contractor $600 or more last year, this is your deadline and not theirs. The penalty runs per form.
17 March
S corporations and partnerships
A month before the personal deadline, which surprises a new business owner every single year.
15 April
Personal return, and the first estimate
Both fall on the same day, which is why people who owe pay one and forget the other.
16 June
Second quarterly estimate
Only two months after the first. This is the one that catches people out.
15 September
Third estimate, and extended business returns
15 October
Extended personal returns
The last day. There is nothing after this one.

An extension gives you six more months to file. It gives you no more time at all to pay.

This is the most expensive misunderstanding in the whole of personal tax. If you file in October and owed money in April, interest and a late payment penalty have been running since April on the balance, and the extension did nothing about it.

So if we extend, we will work out what you probably owe and you will send that in April, even though the paperwork comes later. It takes twenty minutes and it is usually the largest single amount of money I save anybody.

Plainly

Four things I will not do

I will not quote a refund before I see the documents

Anybody who tells you a number over the telephone in January is guessing at your money and hoping you come in.

I will not price a return off your refund

The fee is on the schedule above and it is the same whether you get $9,000 back or write a cheque.

I will not file a return you have not had read back to you

Every return is gone through line by line with you before it is signed, including the ones where that takes an hour. It is your signature and your liability, not mine.

I will not take a deduction I would not defend

If a deduction is arguable, you will be told it is arguable, what it is worth and what happens if it is questioned, and then you decide. If it is simply not allowed, the answer is no and there is no version of the conversation where it becomes yes.

Telephone before you gather anything. It saves the most time.

Five minutes on the phone will tell you which tabs of the folder apply to you, which is usually two, and stops a Saturday spent looking for documents that were never needed.

Call (816) 555-0129

Office

1742 West Depot Street
Excelsior Springs, Missouri
(816) 555-0129

January to 15 April

Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Evening appointments most weeks.

16 April to December

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Other days by arrangement, and the telephone is answered.

Who you get

The same person every year. There is no front desk, no seasonal preparer and nobody the work is handed to.