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Here's Your Tax Preparation Checklist for 2024
Here's Your Tax Preparation Checklist for 2024
As the 2023 tax season approaches, now is the time to start organizing your tax forms and bank statements. You also need to be aware of the deadlines for filing and paying your taxes.
Below is a detailed checklist list of the forms you'll need based on your income status, whether you are a full-time employee or are a self-employed individual, a freelancer or another type of 1099 employee. It also lists important dates for 2023 tax filing and quarterly payment dates for estimated taxes in 2024.
Key Highlights:
- Self-employed individuals need to use Schedule C to calculate their profit and loss.
- W-2 employees should keep all their W-2 forms handy when preparing their taxes to be filed.
- April 18, 2024, is the filing deadline for the 2023 tax year.
Table of contents
Information that the IRS needs for taxes
When you use IRS e-file to pay and file your taxes, you need to provide your personal information to the IRS, including your Social Security number (SSN), your name and the SSNs of any dependents you have. Dependents can be your spouse, children, adopted children or parents.
Before you use e-File to file your taxes, the IRS recommends that you properly prepare your tax return using an external website and tools.
How can I declare my income?
To file your taxes, you'll need to give the IRS information about your income, as well. You can do this by using the various IRS forms. Here's a list of all the possible sources of income you could have.
- Income from self-employment, freelancing, independent contract work or non-employee compensation. Self-employment income is usually reported on a 1099 form that gets sent to the IRS. The 1099-NEC, 1099-INT and 1099-K are versions of this form that are used to share information directly with the IRS by a company or individual that is paying someone for contract work, or paying someone interest or dividends. If you are self-employed and earning income as a streamer for Twitch or OnlyFans, for example, those companies will use the 1099-NEC to report the amounts they pay you to the IRS.
- Pension income and retirement benefits for seniors. This is reported using the 1099-R form.
- Income benefits from Social Security, reported using Form SSA-1099.
- Full-time employee income: reported on the W-2 form for you or you and your spouse, if filing jointly.
- Capital gains income from the sale of a property. The 1099-C form is used to report this income and includes information like the original price for acquiring a property, an escrow closing statement, cost of repairs and improvements during possession and canceled debt information. It also includes income from selling stock and cryptocurrency assets.
- Income from winnings from gambling – reported under Part I, 8b on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
- Income from court jury duty is reported under Part I, 8g on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
- Scholarships also need to be reported under Part I, 8r on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
- Tax refunds are also considered income and must be reported in your tax filing. They are reported using your normal 1040 form.
- Profits and losses from business activities are reported on Schedule C of Form 1040.
- Income tax and self-employment tax can be calculated using Schedule SE of Form 1040.
Qualifying write-offs and deductions
Tax write-offs and qualifying self-employment deductions help you reduce the amount of tax you pay by lowering your taxable income. Check to see if you can take advantage of any of the following deductions.
- Student loan interest
- Part of home mortgage interest – if working from a home office
- Health insurance premiums for self-employed individuals
- Retirement pension plan contributions like IRA
- HSA (Health Savings Account) contributions
- Business deductions – deducting the cost of items that are ordinary and necessary for your line of work. For a delivery driver, for example, business deductions include fuel costs, mileage and vehicle-related expenses
- Charitable donations to IRS-affiliated charity organizations
Tax credit deductions
Unlike write-offs and deductions, which lower your taxable income, tax credits directly reduce the amount of tax you owe. Some of the following tax credits are also refundable. If your tax credit amount is more than your taxes owed, you'll get the difference back in your bank account.
See if you qualify for the following tax credits:
- Recovery rebate credit
- Child tax credit
- Various education tax credits
- Earned income credit
- EV tax credit
- Dependent tax credit
Tax preparation checklist 2024: important dates
Tax filing deadline for the 2023 financial year:
- April 18, 2024
- October 16, 2024
- April 15, 2024 - Q1
- June 17, 2024 - Q2
- September 16, 2024 - Q3
- January 15, 2025 - Q4
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