• Make sure you have everything you need to do your taxes correctly.A young woman holding a pen, doing her taxes image by Christopher Meder from Fotolia.com
  
  No matter what you do for a living or how much income you have, filing taxes is a fact of life. Before you start preparing your tax return, make sure you have all of the necessary documentation. If the amount of income you report differs from IRS records, you could get a big tax bill or even be subject to an audit.
  
  

W2 Forms

• Your employer issues a W2 to report the amount of income you received during the previous year. These forms are to be mailed out by February of each year, so if you do not have yours by then, check with your human resources department. Also be sure you have a W2 form from each employer if you held more than one job during the year.
  
  

1099-DIV Forms

• If you hold a brokerage account, the firm will issue a 1099-DIV form to report the dividend income you received. These forms are also issued to the IRS, and an automatic matching program compares the amount you reported to the amount reported to the IRS. Before you file your taxes, you need to make sure you have received a 1099-DIV form for each brokerage firm holding an account in your name.
  
  

1099-INT Forms

• If you received interest from your bank during the year, the institution will issue a 1099-INT form. At the same time, the bank or credit union will issue a copy of the your 1099-INT form to the IRS, so it is critical that the amount you declare equals the amount the bank reported to the government. Before filing your taxes, be sure you have a 1099-INT form from every bank where you have an interest-bearing account.
  
  

Expense Information

• If your amount of allowable expenses is higher than the standard deduction provided by the IRS, you can save money on your taxes by itemizing. In order to determine whether or not itemizing your deductions makes sense, you need to gather the paperwork on all allowable expenses, including mortgage interest, local taxes, property taxes and charitable deductions. Add up all of these expenses and compare the amount to the standard deduction. If the amount of your actual expenses exceeds the standard deductions, use that number on your tax return. Otherwise, use the standard deduction.