Your tax documents, gathered.

Every filer.

• Household detailsNames, birth dates and taxpayer-number records for you, your spouse and any dependents. Keep them private; this checklist never asks for them.
• Family and living arrangementsYour marital status, the months each dependent lived with you, and records of any support or household costs relevant to your filing status.
• Your prior US return, if you filed oneFor a 2025 return, keep your 2024 return, including the adjusted gross income figure. For a joint return, check your spouse's prior return too.

Anyone living outside the US during the year.

• Addresses and work locationsThe addresses you lived at with move-in and move-out dates, and the countries and dates of your main place of work.
• A travel calendarArrival and departure dates, US visits and days in other countries. Tickets or passport entries can help you check dates; do not guess them from memory.

Keep records for every employer, including an overseas employer that did not issue a US tax form.

• Overseas payslips or an annual earnings statementThe pay you received, with the amounts kept in their original currency. An overseas salary does not need a US Form W-2; your foreign employer's records answer the pay questions.
• Employer and work detailsYour employer's name and address, your job dates, and where you physically did the work.
• Any Form W-2 you receivedAll pages and the federal withholding figures. The interview treats a US Form W-2 separately from pay from a foreign employer. Where you or your spouse files with an ITIN, you type the number printed in box a of that person's Form W-2 yourself, as the form shows it; if it is not their ITIN, the return is printed for you to sign and mail.
• Other income statementsFor example bank interest or dividend statements and US Forms 1099-INT or 1099-DIV. If you also sold investments, use the investments group below.

Anyone who paid, or owes, income tax to another country.

• Foreign income tax statementsAssessment notices, tax returns or withholding statements showing the country, the income taxed and the tax amount.
• Payment and withholding recordsBank confirmations or pay statements showing when tax was paid or withheld. Keep unpaid (accrued) tax amounts separate from amounts already paid.

Start with your books and the records behind the totals, not only the amount left in the bank account.

• Business detailsThe trading name, what the business does, your accounting method, and the employer identification number if there is one.
• Income before expensesInvoices, sales records, payment records and any relevant Forms 1099 supporting what the business took in.
• Customer refunds and creditsCredit notes or other records of amounts returned or credited to customers.
• Expenses grouped by typeTotals from your books, with receipts, invoices and proof of payment supporting the date, amount and business purpose.
• Where the work was doneRecords of the dates and places of your business activity, with original currency amounts and US dollar totals where relevant.

Anyone who sold investments or holds accounts or assets outside the US.

• Broker and income statementsRelevant Forms 1099-B, 1099-INT or 1099-DIV and the equivalent overseas statements. Keep corrected statements too.
• Sale recordsFor each relevant sale: a description of the asset, the purchase date, the sale date and the sale proceeds.
• Purchase cost and adjustmentsRecords supporting your cost basis and any adjustment on the statement. If you bought the asset before 2025, keep the earlier purchase records.
• Foreign account detailsInstitution, country, account type, ownership, maximum value during the year and year-end value, with the currency.
• Records of other foreign assetsDescriptions, acquisition dates, ownership and value records. Check coverage before treating a foreign fund, pension, company interest or other asset as a supported case.