Are You Sure You're Ready?

When I started this post on January 15, 2019, I hadn’t seen a W-2 yet! Nor had I seen a 1099-R, SSA-1099 or any other income document. It’s the 18^th now and I have seen my first W-2 and a SSA-1099. Everything is slow getting out. Actually, that might not be a problem.

The issue with those who try to file early is they generally don’t have everything they need. They have their W-2 but not the 1099-R for the money they took out of their 401K. Or they are missing the day care statement. So I thought I would give you a check list to help you remember what you are waiting for. However…

W-2s and other income reporting documents are not required to be mailed until January 31, 2019.

• W-2s – This may seem like a no brainer but did you change jobs during the year. Make sure you have W-2s for everywhere you worked. And no you can’t hold a late W-2 and include it in 2019’s return. Please, also check with your employer if they changed names or divisions or were bought out by another company since they might have to give you more than one W-2.
• 1099-R – Did you cash in part of your retirement plan? Default on the loan on your 401K? Did you rollover your retirement from one plan to another? If you did, you will need a 1099-R.
• 1099 – INT and DIV – the banks and other financial organizations will get these out to you. However, if the amount is under $10 they don’t have to send a form but you still have to include it on your return.
• SSA-1099 – is for form the Social Security Administration send to tell you how much you need to report on your tax return. If you have Medicare, your premiums will be also listed as will any withholding.
• 1099-G – is for government payments. Mostly taxpayers with unemployment will be the ones who get these but if you itemized deductions on your 2017 tax returns and received a state refund you will also get one.
• W2-G – did you gamble and win. You should have gotten this form at that time. Now is the time to find where you put it for safekeeping.
• 1099-MISC - is the catch all form. This is how businesses report what they paid independent contractors. It is also how they report certain rents paid. It is also a catch all for many prizes and other payments.
• 1098 – comes from your mortgage holder and tell you how much of your payments were allotted to interest. It should also tell you what real estate taxes were paid through escrow and the loan balance.
• 1098-T – will come from a post high school school. You’ll need this information for the education credits.
• 1099-S – documents the sale of real estate. It couple be land, a rental, or your personal residence. If you did sale your personal residence, you might not get this form if you meet the exclusion qualifications. 
• Brokerage statements are generally composites that could include several 1099 forms; interest, dividends, sale of stock. The big problem with brokerage statements is that they are usually not sent out until February. If they do come earlier, they may be revised later.

Hopefully, this post will serve as a reminder of a form you might have forgotten and save you time at your interview.

BTW – I will still need to see a valid driver’s license or state id.

 

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