Get ready to file: how to Prepare and what to consider

Gather and organize your tax records

Organized tax records make preparing a complete and accurate tax return easier. It helps you avoid errors that lead to delays that slow your refund and may also help you find overlooked deductions or credits.

Wait to file until you have your tax records including:

Forms W-2 from your employer(s)
Forms 1099 from banks, issuing agencies and other payers including unemployment compensation, dividends, pension, annuity or retirement plan distributions
Form 1099-K, 1099-MISC, W-2 or other income statement if you worked in the gig economy
Form 1099-INT if you were paid interest
Other income documents and records of digital asset transactions
Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement, to reconcile advance payments or claims Premium Tax Credits for 2022 Marketplace coverage
IRS or other agency letters
CP01A Notice with your new Identity Protection PIN

Notify the IRS if your address changes and notify the Social Security Administration of a legal name change.

Remember, most income is taxable. This includes:

Check your individual tax identification number (ITIN)

Get an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN)

Make sure you've withheld enough tax

Get banked to speed tax refunds with direct deposit

Taxpayers may receive a Form 1099-K

Taxpayers who received more than $5,000 in payments for goods and services through an online marketplace or payment app in 2024 should expect to receive a Form 1099-K in January 2025. IRS will also receive a copy of your Form 1099-K.

There have been no changes to the taxability of income. All income, including proceeds from part-time work, side jobs or the sale of goods and services is taxable. Taxpayers must report all income on their tax return unless it's excluded by law, whether they receive a Form 1099-K, a Form 1099-NEC, Form 1099-MISC, or any other information return.

It is important for taxpayers to understand why they received a Form 1099-K and how to use it along with their other records to figure and report the correct amount of income on their tax return. It is also important for taxpayers to know what to do if they received a Form 1099-K but shouldn't have. In either situation, good recordkeeping is key and will help make tax filing easier.

See What to do with Form 1099-K for more information.

Changes that may affect your tax refund

Life events, such as purchasing a home, going to college or losing a job, may make you eligible for certain tax benefits. Other circumstances, such as getting married or divorced, welcoming a child or experiencing the death of a spouse or a dependent you claim, could also affect your tax benefit eligibility and filing status. These changes could mean you qualify for tax credits like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child and Dependent Care Credit and Credit for Other Dependents(ODC).

For 2024, the CTC is worth up to $2,000 for each qualifying child. A child must be under age 17 at the end of 2024 to be a qualifying child.
For 2024, the EITC eligible taxpayers with no qualifying children may receive up to $632.
If your dependent is age 17 or older at the end of 2024, they may qualify for the ODC.

For the Child and Dependent Care Credit, taxpayers may receive up to 35% of their employment expenses. Visit Credits and Deductions for more details.

Clean vehicle tax credit. Review the changes under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to see if you qualify for the new electric vehicles purchased in 2022 or before or the new clean vehicles purchased in 2023 or after credit.

Home energy credits. If you make energy improvements to your home, tax credits are available for a portion of qualifying expenses. The credit amounts and types of qualifying expenses were expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Avoid refund delays and understand refund timing

Many different factors can affect the timing of your refund after we receive your return. Although the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, the IRS cautions taxpayers not to rely on receiving a refund by a certain date, especially when making major purchases or paying bills.

Identity theft and refund fraud. Some returns may require additional review and may take longer. The IRS, along with its partners in the tax industry, continue to strengthen security reviews to help protect against identity theft and refund fraud.

IRS cannot issue EITC and ACTC refunds before mid-February. Refunds for people claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) can't be issued before mid-February. The law requires the IRS to hold the entire refund − even the portion not associated with EITC or ACTC.

Returns requiring manual review. Some returns, filed electronically or on paper, may need manual review delaying the processing if our systems detect a possible error, the return is missing information, or there is suspected identity theft or fraud. Some of these situations require us to correspond with taxpayers, but some do not. This work does require special handling by an IRS employee so, in these instances, it may take the IRS more than 21 days to issue any related refund. In cases where the IRS is able to correct the return without corresponding, the IRS will send an explanation to the taxpayer.