When is it time to start collecting your tax documents? While it is always good to make sure you and your loved ones are checking your mail, January is a particularly important time to make sure you receive by mail any documents you will need to file your taxes for the previous year. For seniors especially, many documents crucial to tax filing are only available by mail unless they take specific actions to set up online profiles with institutions to retrieve their documents digitally. Below is a simple checklist of tax documents seniors should expect to receive at the beginning of the calendar year that they should keep safe or digitally scan to send to their tax professionals:

• Form SSA-1099 – Social Security Benefit Statement – ssa.gov
• Form 1099-R – Income statement for pensions, annuities, retirement plans or IRAs
• Form 1098 – Mortgage Interest Statement
• Form 1099-LTC – Reports long-term care benefits
• Form 1099-INT – Reports interest income of all types of investment
• Form 1099-DIV – Reports dividends and distributions from any type of investment
• Schedule K-1 – Reports share of income, losses, deductions and credits from a business of which you are a partner
• Form W-2 – Reports wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them
• Letters from charitable organizations recognizing charitable contributions for the previous calendar year

While this is not necessarily a complete list, it is a good place to start. Make sure to confer with your accountant or tax professional about what documents are needed for your tax filing in a timely fashion.