James C. Caswell, CPA/Tax Interview

Being prepared for your tax interview will help to keep your tax preparation fees as low as possible

Come to your tax interview prepared - Failing to bring a crucial documents and/or information to the tax interview causes us additonal unnecessary time spent on phone calls and/or correspondence in an effort to get the information we need to complete the return. Additionally, this causes a delay in completing the tax return. Here is a list of some of the most common items necessary to properly complete an individual tax return:

Bring the organizer we mailed to you - Even if you don't write anything in it yourself we will use it during your tax interview.
Real estate transactions - Please bring a copy of the closing escrow statement for the sale of the property and a copy of the Form 1099-S which is usually issued by the escrow company if it is a rental property or a residence selling for more than $500,000. It is also helpful to have a copy of the closing escrow statement for the property when it was originally purchased, but if this is not possible at least the details such as date and amount of purchase.
Stock/bond transactions - Please bring the year-end statement for any brokerage accounts you have. This statement will usually include the Forms 1099-DIV, 1099-INT & 1099-B issued by you broker (you may receive these as separate forms). If you sold any securities during the year supply us with the date and amount of purchase. Sometimes this information is included in your broker's year end statement in the year of sale. If it isn't, you may have to look for the year end statement for the year in which you purchased the security, the confirmation statement, or you may have to ask your broker for the information.
Business - Please bring a profit & loss statement for your business (such as that produced by Quickbooks software) and/or enter expense item amounts in the business page of your tax organizer we mailed to you. If you purchased any equipment during the year we need the type of equipment, cost and date(s) it was purchased. Also, bring any Form 1099-MISC's you may have received from your customers/clients. If you have employees, it is helpful for us to have copies of the W-2's and year-end payroll returns (DE7 & 940) which were filed for the business.
Mortgage interest - Please bring any Form 1098's you received. You should have received a Form 1098 if you paid mortgage interest to a financial institution on a loan secured by real estate used as a residence or a rental property. These amounts are reported to the IRS so by us having a copy it will insure that your tax return is not flagged because the deduction on your return does not match the IRS computer records.
Charitable contribution - If you made non-cash contributions of large items such as a car or furniture with a current fair market value over $500 we need specific information re: the gift such as the name and address of the charitable organization, the date of the donation & a complete description of the item(s).

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