Tax Preparation Checklist

If you are unsure whether an event has tax ramifications, please include the details.

1. Did your immigration status change? Did you obtain/change a visa or your citizenship status? Did you turn in your green card?
2. Did your family size change? Marital status change? Any births? Deaths? Dependents move in/out?
3. Is anyone living in the home or do you provide support to someone who is/became disabled (food, shelter, clothing, etc.)?
4. Change of address – Did you move across a state/province or international boundary? What was the purpose of your move? Is it temporary or permanent?
5. Did you sell real estate during the year (including your main home/principal residence)?
6. New job? Changes to where/how you perform your job? Work from home due to COVID? Became self-employed? Created a business entity?
7. Did you make any large payments or refinance a mortgage or other debt instrument?
8. For US persons – Did you make any large gifts (more than $16,000 USD)? Receive any gifts, bequests, or inheritance from a non-US person, estate, or corporation?
9. Did your dependent child earn any income in the year (includes wages, unemployment, CERB/CESB, investment income, etc.)?

1. Copy of your current picture identification – driver’s license, passport (if not previously provided).
2. Copy of last year’s return(s) to ensure continuity/carryovers (if not prepared by us).
3. If you worked in more than one jurisdiction, provide a list of the total days worked in the year and the total days worked in each jurisdiction.
4. If you are a US person residing outside the US, provide the number of days you were located outside the US in the year and the total number of days you were in the US, broken out by personal and business days.
5. If you are not a US person and are filing a US return or have travelled to the US in the year, provide a copy of your I-94 travel history.

1. Employment/Unemployment – Form W-2, T4, 1099-G, T4E and/or other year-end tax documents. If no year-end tax document is available, paystubs reporting the gross wages you earned and any amounts that were deducted by your employer during the calendar year. If you and/or your employer contributes to a retirement/pension plan, see non-US trusts below.
2. Interest – Form 1099-INT, T5, NR4 and/or any other year-end tax document which reports the total interest earned in the calendar year. If a tax form/slip was not received or issued, add up the interest paid to you and provide the total amount received.
3. Dividends – 1099-DIV, T5, T3, NR4 and/or any other year-end tax document which reports the total dividends earned in the calendar year and the source of those dividends. If a tax form/slip was not received or issued, provide account statements listing each dividend source, amount and date paid.
4. Capital gains – 1099-B, T5008 and/or any other year-end tax document which provides the asset that was sold, the date and amount of the sale and purchase and any costs incurred to sell/purchase/improve the asset. This includes the sale of your primary residence. See also foreign currency gain/loss below.
5. Stock options – vesting schedule, history of grants and exercises; if employment was performed in more than one jurisdiction provide the dates worked in each jurisdiction between grant and exercise.
6. Crypto currency – details of all purchases, sales, exchanges, mining, forks, trades, bartering, etc. that occurred in the year (dates, amounts, etc.). Most wallet applications have tax reports available for download.
7. Self-employment – 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, T4A, T4A-NR, summary of the total payments received, expenses incurred to earn the income, list of assets (anything that is not consumed/used up in the year) purchased/sold/used in your business – include the purchase/sale date and amount and the date you began using the asset in your business; see our Business Worksheet.
8. Rental property – summary of income received/expenses incurred, list of assets (lasting more than a year) purchased/sold/used in your rental operation – include the purchase/sale date and amount and the date you began to use the asset in your rental operation; see our Rental Worksheet. See also foreign currency gain/loss below.
9. Retirement income – SSA-1099, 1099-R, T4A-P, T4A-OAS, T4A, T4RSP, T4RIF, NR4 and/or any other year-end tax document which details the amount of pension and/or social security benefits you received in the year; residents of California (and some other states) see non-US mutual funds/ETFs below.
10. Education related – 1099-MISC, W-2, 1098-T, T4A, any other year-end tax document which details the amount of scholarship/grant/bursary/fellowship received in the year and how much was used to pay tuition and other education expenses, account statement from the school (details all amounts billed for/paid).
11. Alimony/spousal support – copy of the divorce/separation decree/agreement.
12. Foreign currency gain/loss – if you made a large payment or paid off a debt instrument (such as a mortgage), provide the documents from the acquisition of the debt instrument or most recent refinance and from the details of the payment/payoff.
13. Other income – CERB/CESB benefits (T4E/T4A), other COVID-19 related benefits received, alimony/support received, jury duty, strike pay, gambling winnings and any other amounts received from any source worldwide. If unsure if an amount received is income, provide details.
14. Shareholders/partners/beneficiaries – for US entities/trusts: Form K-1; copy of the entity’s return (if available).
15. Non-US mutual funds/ETFs and/or stocks/funds held in an account outside the US – for US Form 1040 returns: complete list of transactions (including dates, values and number of shares/units) for each fund owned at any time during the year – purchases, sales, dividends (or other distributions) – back to the original purchase if not previously provided to us.
16. Non-US trusts/pensions/retirement accounts – for US Form 1040 returns: statements for the entire year which detail all amounts that were contributed to the trust/plan, distributed from the trust/plan, the value of the trust/plan on January 1 and December 31 and the income earned within the plan – include dates and amounts of each transaction.
17. Mutual funds/ETFs located in an account outside of Canada – for Canadian T1 returns: complete list of transactions (including dates, values and number of shares/units) for each fund owned at any time during the year – purchases, sales, dividends (or other distributions) – back to the original purchase if not previously provided to us.
18. Trusts/pensions/retirement accounts located outside of Canada – for Canadian T1 returns: statements for the entire year which detail all amounts that were contributed to the trust/plan, distributed from the trust/plan, the value of the trust/plan on January 1 and December 31 and the income earned within the plan – include dates and amounts of each transaction.

1. Contributions to a retirement account – receipts for amounts and dates paid if not already reported on a tax form/slip such as a W-2 or T4, RRSP receipts for Mar–Dec of the tax year and the first 60 days of the current calendar year.
2. Foreign tax credit – copy of your tax return in the country where you paid the tax; for countries that have a tax year other than the calendar year (fiscal year), provide both returns that fall within the calendar year and a copy of your paystub on 12/31 of the prior year, 12/31 of the current year and the last paystub at the end of the foreign country’s fiscal year with YTD information; if no return was required, provide a copy of the year-end report or other document from the payer reporting the total tax withheld.
3. Foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) – provide the number of days you were located outside the US in the year, dates you were in the US and the purpose; list of eligible housing expenses (rent, utilities, etc.) and any amounts that were paid/reimbursed by your employer.
4. Charitable donations – official donation receipts, documentation regarding value of non-cash donations.
5. Child care expenses – receipt from provider including name of child, date, amount paid and name and tax ID of the provider.
6. Home office expenses – see our Home Office Expense Worksheet.
7. Medical expenses – list of expenses incurred, including amount, date paid and purpose; if you had to travel outside your area for medical care, provide travel dates and locations; COVID-19 PPE and rapid tests are generally not allowable unless prescribed by a doctor. Pharmacies, dentists, doctors, chiropractors, etc. can usually provide a year-end printout for tax purposes – see our Medical Travel Worksheet.
8. Investment expenses – fees to manage/maintain investments, interest paid on a loan used to purchase investments which produce taxable income.
9. Alimony/support paid – copy of the separation agreement/divorce decree, amounts and dates paid, recipient’s name and tax ID/number (pre-2018 divorce).
10. Student loan interest – Form 1098, official receipt from lender.
11. Legal fees – receipts for amounts paid to receive taxable income or to establish/increase support payments.
12. Educator expenses – expenses incurred for materials directly used in the classroom.
13. Tax payments – estimated tax/installment payments made to a tax authority that are not reported on a tax form/slip such as a W-2/T4; include amount, date and recipient.
14. Itemized deductions – for US Form 1040 returns: Form 1098, mortgage interest, US real estate tax, insurance premiums, personal property taxes paid (some states), etc.
15. Climate action incentive credit – for Canadian T1 returns: indicate who is claiming (only one claim per household).
16. Canada workers benefit advance payments – for Canadian T1 returns: RC210 slip.
17. Moving expenses – for Canadian T1 returns: must have been incurred to move closer to a new work location; provide previous and new residence, employer addresses, dates, amounts and purpose of payments; must not be reimbursed by employer.
18. Other – if you are unsure whether something is an allowable deduction/credit, please provide details.

1. FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) – list of all accounts located outside the US and the highest value of the account during the year; you can use our FBAR worksheet; see FBAR Quicksheet for additional information if needed.
2. Forms 3520-A and 3520 – detailed statements from the trust/pension account/plan for the entire year; must include any contributions to/distributions from and all activity within the account/plan; include a breakdown of contributions made by the employer (if an employer-sponsored plan).
3. T1135 – list of all non-Canadian property (cash accounts, real estate, trusts located outside Canada, foreign stock/mutual funds/ETFs, etc.); must include the highest and 12/31 cost of each property; you can use our T1135 worksheet; see T1135 Quicksheet for additional information if needed.
4. Form 5471/8858/8865 – see our Foreign Entities Worksheet.