Income documents tell a preparer what was reported. They don’t say you got married in August, that your daughter started college, or that you inherited your father’s house. Those are the things that change the shape of a return, and the only way they get accounted for is if someone mentions them.

Which is why a good first question isn’t “do you have your forms.” It’s “what happened this year.”

Moving

A move within a state is usually uneventful. A move across a state line means part-year filing in two states, splitting income by when it was earned, and — frequently — withholding that’s still pointed at the old state for part of the year.

An international move is a substantially bigger conversation and worth raising well in advance.

Marriage and divorce

Marriage introduces a filing status decision. Joint filing suits most couples but not all, and the arithmetic depends on the relative income of each spouse and their respective deductions. It’s worth actually checking rather than defaulting.

Divorce is more involved. Filing status turns on marital status at a specific point in the year. Property transfers between spouses have their own treatment. And the question of who claims dependents is a matter of agreement and specific rules, not simply who has them more.

Support arrangements have tax treatment that has changed over time, and which agreement governs can depend on when it was executed. Bring the documents.

Children

A new child affects dependency, potentially credits, and possibly filing status. Childcare costs may matter. It’s one of the more mechanically straightforward changes, which is why it’s worth being sure it was captured.

Children ageing out is the other side. Dependency and credit eligibility can end at particular ages or when circumstances change, and the change is easy to miss because nothing announces it.

Education

Tuition, fees, and student loan interest each have their own treatment, and there are usually several mutually exclusive ways to claim education costs. Which is best depends on income and the specific expenses — it’s a calculation, not a default.

Worth knowing: who claims the student affects who can claim the education benefit. For families where the student has their own income, this is worth deciding deliberately rather than by accident.

Buying, selling, or refinancing a home

Buying brings mortgage interest and property tax into play, and may make itemizing worthwhile where it previously wasn’t.

Selling raises the question of gain, and whether an exclusion applies. This depends on ownership and use over a period, and there are specific circumstances that modify it. Keep the closing documents from both the purchase and the sale — basis matters, and improvements over the years can affect it.

Refinancing can change the treatment of interest depending on what the funds were used for.

Retirement

One of the more significant transitions, because income changes character rather than simply stopping. Retirement account distributions, benefit income, pension income, and investment income are each treated differently, and the interaction between them can produce effects people don’t anticipate.

Distributions generally don’t carry automatic withholding unless elected, which is a common source of an unexpected balance in the first retired year.

Inheritance

Receiving an inheritance is usually not itself the taxable event people fear. What matters more is what you inherited and what you do with it — inherited assets carry basis rules that materially affect what happens when you sell, and inherited retirement accounts have distribution requirements of their own.

The single most useful thing: establish the value at the relevant date and keep that record. It determines the tax outcome whenever the asset is eventually sold, which may be years away and long after the paperwork has been lost.

Starting or closing a business

Starting brings self-employment income, expenses, quarterly obligations, and a structure decision. Costs incurred before trading began have their own treatment and are frequently missed.

Closing has its own requirements — final returns, disposal of assets, and cleanly ending registrations so filing obligations don’t linger and generate notices for a business that no longer exists.

Significant medical events

Substantial medical expenses may be deductible depending on their scale relative to income. Most years this doesn’t apply. In a year with a serious event it can, and it’s worth tracking costs at the time rather than reconstructing from insurance records afterward.

Changes in how you work

Moving from employment to self-employment, adding freelance work alongside a job, or shifting to remote work across a state line all change the picture — sometimes considerably, and usually without any document announcing it.

Investment activity

Selling significant positions, exercising equity compensation, or a large realized gain can create liability in a specific period, with estimated payment consequences. Equity compensation in particular has treatment that varies by type and timing, and is worth discussing before you act rather than after.

The practical habit

Keep a running note through the year. Not a system — a note on your phone. Anything that felt significant.

Then bring it to your preparer. The forms will tell them what was reported. The note tells them what to ask about, and that’s usually where the difference is.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Every one of these depends on specifics — get in touch to talk about yours.