Tax Document Checklist

Gather the records that make tax work easier.

Start with the return you are filing. Each checklist covers the records for that return alone, so you are reading what applies to you rather than everything GHL might ever ask for.

Choose your return Secure Client Portal

Which return are you filing?

Form 1040Personal tax recordsFor an individual or family return, including investment, retirement, and property activity.12 items to gather
Form 1120 · 1120-SBusiness tax recordsFor a corporation or S corporation return prepared from the year's books.14 items to gather
Form 1065 · Schedule K-1Partnership tax recordsFor a partnership return and the Schedule K-1s each partner receives.14 items to gather
Form 1041 · Schedule K-1Trust tax recordsFor a trust return, its distributions, and the Schedule K-1s beneficiaries receive.14 items to gather

Before preparation begins

Complete. Accurate. Organized.

GHL cannot complete a return until the required information is complete and accurate. Check every item that applies, and identify anything unavailable or uncertain before submitting your records.

Complete: Include every applicable tax form, statement, notice, and supporting record.
Accurate: Confirm names, tax IDs, totals, dates, ownership, and payment amounts.
Organized: Label files by tax year, taxpayer or entity, account, and document type.

IRS and state notices

Provide every item that applies to your return. If an item is unavailable or uncertain, identify it before preparation begins.

Every notice or letter received, including all pages and the envelope
Notices for a balance due, an adjustment, a math-error correction, or identity verification
Examination, audit, or information-document requests along with their response dates
Payment plans, penalty-abatement requests, or prior correspondence already in progress

Questions to Flag

Provide every item that applies to your return. If an item is unavailable or uncertain, identify it before preparation begins.

Life changes such as marriage, a new dependent, a move between states, or a home purchase or sale
Entities formed, closed, or restructured during the year
Large or unusual activity such as asset sales, distributions, loans, or transfers involving the trust
Anything you are unsure how to categorize, plus upcoming deadlines or extension needs

Before you send anything

Send every document through the Secure Client Portal. It is the tool GHL uses for the work itself — where your files are stored, where you can see where your return stands, and how we exchange messages securely. Your data protection is important to us, and anything sent another way puts personal information somewhere it is not protected.

Send all tax documents through the Secure Client Portal once GHL gives you access — every document, not only the ones that look sensitive
Never send Social Security or other taxpayer identification numbers, account numbers, dates of birth, addresses, or other personal information through the public contact form or by email
Label files clearly by tax year, entity, account, and document type
Add a short note for deadlines, notices, extensions, or questions that need early review

Open the Secure Client Portal

Tax preparation fees assume usable records.

Bookkeeping services are available when needed and are billed separately. Time required to organize, reconcile, reconstruct, research, or locate missing information is outside standard return preparation and may increase the final cost.

Bookkeeping and cleanup: Recording transactions, correcting accounts, or completing unfinished books.
Reconciliation and reconstruction: Resolving differences or rebuilding activity from statements and source documents.
Missing-information follow-up: Repeated requests, research, or time spent locating and organizing necessary data.

Next step

Ask about tax preparation

Tell GHL what you need, and GHL will contact you about availability, scope and fees.

Asking does not begin work.

Ask about tax preparation

Send documents through the Secure Client Portal. Never attach tax documents, account numbers or Social Security numbers to a web form or an email. If you engage GHL, it gives you portal access when that engagement starts.