The tax documents checklist

Organized records make a complete and accurate 2025 return easier to prepare, and they help you avoid the errors that slow a refund. Keep them in one folder, and check off each form as it arrives.

Income forms

• Form W-2 from each employerCheck that you have one from every employer you worked for during 2025, including a job you left.
• Forms 1099 from banks and other payersThese cover unemployment compensation, dividends, and pension, annuity or retirement plan distributions.
• Form 1099-INT, if you were paid interest
• Form 1099-K, 1099-MISC or a W-2, for gig workAny of these, or another income statement, can come from gig-economy work. Keep good records if a 1099-K arrives, even one you think you shouldn't have received.
• Records of digital asset transactions

Home and health

• Form 1098, if you have a mortgageYour lender uses it to report the mortgage interest it received from you during the year.
• Form 1095-A, if you had Marketplace coverageIt is the Health Insurance Marketplace Statement.

Letters, identity and bank details

• Your bank's routing and account numbersA direct-deposit refund needs your bank's routing and account numbers on the return, and it arrives faster than a paper check. Both numbers are in your online banking account, or your bank can give them to you.
• Letters from the IRS or other agencies
• The CP01A notice with your Identity Protection PINAn IP PIN is a six-digit number that keeps someone else from filing a federal return with your Social Security number. Your online account is the quickest way to get one. Without an account, you can verify your identity in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center.
• A current address on fileTell the IRS when your address changes, and tell the Social Security Administration about a legal name change.

From your IRS online account

• Details from past returnsThe account shows key details, such as adjusted gross income, from returns filed in the last five years.
• Forms W-2 and some 1099s
• IRS noticesYou can receive and read digital notices there.
• Taxes owed and payments madeYou can also make or schedule a payment and check the status of a refund.
• Authorizations for a tax professionalYou can approve a preparer's request to act for you or to see your tax information.

After you file

Keep the folder, with a copy of the return itself. Store a copy of important documents in a safe deposit box, on an external drive or in a secure cloud account. Then they're easy to reach after a disaster. Scanning each form as it arrives keeps the digital copy current. Which papers to keep, and for how long covers how long to keep tax records.