2026 Tax Prep Checklist for Homeowners: What to Gather

Organized homeowner tax documents including Form 1098, a closing statement, property tax bill, checklist, calculator, and house key

Executive Summary for the Taxpayer: Gather your income forms, Form 1098, real estate tax records, closing statements, improvement receipts, and health coverage documents before your appointment. Then work through the Yes/No questions below so your preparer knows about home purchases, refinancing, rentals, business use, family changes, and New Jersey residency.

Brick Taxes | 732-540-1040

A homeowner's tax file is only as good as what goes into it. Most of the time lost in a tax appointment is spent hunting for a Form 1098, a closing statement, or the receipt for a new water heater — and most of the money missed is in a cost nobody thought to mention.

This checklist is built to prevent both. Work down it before your appointment, tick what you have, and write down what you cannot find. Bring the marked-up list with you.

Use this as a working paper. Check each box, write down missing items, and keep copies of documents that support your return.

What to Gather

Homeowner tax preparation documents arranged in an organized flat lay

Income documents

Gather every document that reports income, withholding, distributions, or investment activity:

  • All Forms W-2.
  • Form 1099-INT for interest.
  • Form 1099-DIV for dividends.
  • Form 1099-B for broker and barter proceeds.
  • Form 1099-DA for digital-asset transactions.
  • Form 1099-R for pensions and IRA distributions.
  • Form 1099-SA for Health Savings Account distributions.
  • Form SSA-1099 for Social Security benefits.
  • Forms 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, and 1099-K.
  • Schedules K-1 from partnerships, S corporations, estates, and trusts.
  • Form W-2G for gambling winnings.
  • Records of state tax refunds.
  • Unemployment compensation statements.
  • Last year’s filed federal and state returns if you are a new client.

The IRS uses these forms to match reported income and withholding with information submitted by employers, financial institutions, and other payers. IRS Gather Your Documents

Home and property documents

This is the homeowner core of your file:

  • Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement. Your lender sends it to report mortgage interest paid and, in some cases, real estate taxes paid from escrow. IRS Form 1098
  • Real estate tax bills and proof of payment. For federal purposes, use the amount actually paid, not simply the amount deposited into your escrow account. Real estate taxes are generally an itemized deduction subject to the SALT limitation. IRC §164
  • Closing statements if you bought, sold, or refinanced a home during the year. Keep the Closing Disclosure, settlement statement, or HUD-1 if available. IRS Publication 523
  • Home equity loan or HELOC statements. Interest is generally deductible only when the proceeds were used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home securing the debt. IRC §163(h)
  • Mortgage insurance premium statements, if applicable.
  • Energy-efficient improvement receipts for qualifying residential clean energy or energy-efficient home improvements. Residential Clean Energy Credit Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit
  • Home office records if you use part of your home regularly and exclusively for business, including square footage, qualifying expenses, and business-use percentage. IRS Publication 587

Keep records for improvements even when they do not create a current deduction. Capital improvements can affect your adjusted basis when you later sell the home. IRS Publication 530

Expenses and deductions

Gather records for:

  • State and local income taxes paid or withheld.
  • State estimated tax payments made.
  • Personal property taxes.
  • Charitable contribution acknowledgements, including written substantiation for any single gift of $250 or more. IRC §170(f)(8)
  • Medical and dental expenses, with records showing what insurance or another source reimbursed.
  • Mileage logs showing total miles, commuting miles, and business miles.
  • Student loan interest.
  • Educator expenses.

Do not assume every amount on a bill is deductible. The category, payment date, business or personal purpose, and supporting records all matter. IRS Publication 530

Estimated tax payments

Use this table to record each installment. Include payments made with a voucher, online, by direct debit, or through another approved method.

Installment Due date Date paid Federal amount State amount
First April 15, 2026 __________ $__________ $__________
Second June 15, 2026 __________ $__________ $__________
Third September 15, 2026 __________ $__________ $__________
Fourth January 15, 2027 __________ $__________ $__________
  • Amount of last year’s overpayment applied to 2026: $__________

Estimated tax installments and underpayment penalties are governed by the estimated-tax rules in IRC §6654.

Health coverage

  • Form 1095-A for every household member who had Marketplace coverage.
  • Information about changes in household size, coverage months, or income.
  • Confirmation of any advance premium tax credit shown on Form 1095-A.

If advance premium tax credit was paid, Form 8962 is generally required to reconcile the credit with your final household income. IRS Form 1095-A IRS Form 8962

Brick Taxes | 732-540-1040 can help organize homeowner documents, compare itemizing with the standard deduction, and identify questions that need follow-up before filing.

What to Answer

Yes-or-no homeowner tax questionnaire with a house key, calculator, mortgage folder, and New Jersey reference card

Work through these questions even if you think the answer is obvious. A “Yes” response does not automatically create a deduction, but it tells your preparer where additional records or tax analysis may be needed.

Home

  • Yes / No: Did you purchase or sell a main home during the year?
  • Yes / No: Did you refinance a mortgage or take out a home equity loan?
  • Yes / No: Did you use any mortgage or home equity proceeds for something other than buying, building, or substantially improving the home? IRC §163(h)
  • Yes / No: Did you make energy-efficient improvements to your home? IRS Residential Energy Credits
  • Yes / No: Did you pay real estate taxes directly rather than through escrow?
  • Yes / No: Did you receive a property tax refund or rebate during the year? A refund of taxes previously deducted may be taxable in part, depending on whether you received a prior tax benefit. IRS Publication 525
  • Yes / No: Did you rent out part of your home or use it as a short-term rental? Rental income and expenses may require separate reporting and allocation between personal and rental use. IRS Publication 527

Business

  • Yes / No: Did you work from a home office or use your car for business? Keep records of business purpose, mileage, expenses, and home-office measurements. IRS Publication 587 IRS Publication 463
  • Yes / No: Did you receive income from gig or sharing-economy activity, including Airbnb, Uber, delivery work, or online marketplaces?
  • Yes / No: Do you own a business or an interest in a partnership, corporation, LLC, or farming activity?

Income from gig work and payment platforms may be reportable even when a particular information return is not received. IRS Gig Economy Tax Center

Family and life changes

  • Yes / No: Did your marital status change?
  • Yes / No: Did you have a child, adopt, or gain or lose a dependent?
  • Yes / No: Did you become eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, or another government program?
  • Yes / No: Did anyone in the household have Marketplace health coverage? IRS Affordable Care Act

Residency and state

  • Yes / No: Were you a full-year resident, part-year resident, or nonresident of New Jersey?
  • If you moved, what were your dates of residence in each state? ____________________
  • What school district did you live in? ____________________
  • Did you rent or own your residence?
  • What was your total rent paid? $____________________
  • Was heat included in the rent? Yes / No

These details help establish the correct state filing obligations and may affect state-specific deductions, credits, or property-tax-related programs. NJ Division of Taxation

What This Means for Your Deduction

New Jersey homeowner tax planning scene with mortgage interest statement, property tax bill, calculator, and Schedule A-style worksheet

  • Itemized deductions must exceed your standard deduction to produce a federal benefit. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single and married-filing-separately taxpayers, $32,200 for married filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses, and $24,150 for heads of household. IRS 2026 inflation adjustments
  • The 2026 SALT cap is $40,400 for single, head-of-household, married-filing-jointly, and qualifying-surviving-spouse taxpayers, and $20,200 for married filing separately. The increased cap phases down above the applicable modified-AGI threshold but cannot fall below the $10,000 floor, or $5,000 for married filing separately. IRC §164(b)(6)
  • Medical expenses are deductible only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income. IRC §213
  • Improvement assessments, such as an assessment for a new sidewalk, generally increase the property’s basis rather than qualifying as deductible real estate taxes. Maintenance assessments, such as repairing an existing sidewalk, are generally treated differently; trash, sewer, and similar charges listed on a tax bill are typically not deductible as real estate taxes. IRS Publication 530
  • Mortgage interest is generally limited to a main home and one second home. Interest on debt secured by a third home is generally treated as personal interest and is not deductible. IRS Publication 936

New Jersey homeowners

New Jersey does not simply adopt the federal itemized deduction rules. The NJ-1040 has its own exemptions, deductions, and credits, so a larger federal itemized deduction does not automatically create a New Jersey benefit. NJ Division of Taxation

  • New Jersey property tax relief programs are separate from the federal deduction and are filed together on Form PAS-1 at propertytaxrelief.nj.gov.
  • The New Jersey property tax deduction of $250 is claimed on Form PTD by qualifying residents age 65 or older, blind, or disabled whose annual income is $10,000 or less. NJ Form PTD
  • Property tax relief programs depend on annual State Budget appropriations, so eligibility rules and benefit amounts can change. NJ Property Tax Relief

Homeowner Tax Checklist FAQ

What do I need to give my tax preparer as a homeowner?

Provide Form 1098, real estate tax bills and proof of payment, closing statements, home equity statements, energy-improvement receipts, home-office records if applicable, and all income documents. A prior-year filed return is especially useful when you are a new client. IRS Gather Your Documents

Are real estate taxes deductible if I paid them through escrow?

Potentially, but you generally use the amount the lender actually paid to the taxing authority during the tax year, not every dollar deposited into escrow. Review the Form 1098, escrow analysis, and municipal tax records together. IRC §164 IRS Form 1098

Do I need receipts for home improvements?

Yes. Receipts and contracts support your cost basis and may substantiate an energy-related credit when the improvement qualifies under the law for that year. Keep invoices, permits, payment records, and manufacturer certifications when available. IRS Publication 530

Is mortgage interest still deductible in 2026?

Mortgage interest may be deductible as an itemized deduction when the debt meets the qualified home-mortgage-interest rules and the taxpayer itemizes. Home equity interest generally requires that the proceeds were used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home securing the loan. IRS Publication 936 IRC §163(h)

Do I need to bring closing statements?

Bring them if you bought, sold, or refinanced. Closing statements can help identify points, property taxes paid at closing, transaction dates, and basis information that may not appear on Form 1098. IRS Publication 523

What is the 2026 SALT cap?

For most filing statuses, the 2026 SALT cap is $40,400. The cap is $20,200 for married taxpayers filing separately, and the increased cap may phase down for taxpayers above the applicable modified-AGI threshold. IRC §164(b)(6)

Your Next Step

Complete this checklist before uploading or delivering your documents. If you are unsure whether a cost was paid through escrow, whether an improvement is capital in nature, or whether you should itemize, mark the question instead of guessing.

Brick Taxes provides federal and New Jersey tax preparation for homeowners, W-2 employees, 1099 earners, landlords, and small-business owners. You can review tax preparation services, read client reviews, or schedule a resolution and tax consultation through calendly.com/bricktaxes/resolve.

Brick Taxes | 732-540-1040 is available to help you turn a stack of homeowner records into an organized filing plan.