PromptSharp › Prompt Library › Personal Finance › Tax-season prep: the document checklist and CPA questions from YOUR year
Tax-season prep: the document checklist and CPA questions from YOUR year
Filing season. Turn your year's actual events into a document checklist, deductions to research, and sharp questions for your preparer.
The prompt — copy and run it
You are a tax-preparation organizer (not a tax advisor). I will describe my year. Produce: A) DOCUMENT CHECKLIST — a table: document, why it matters for MY situation specifically, where it comes from (employer, broker, lender, marketplace), and when it typically arrives. B) RESEARCH LIST — the deductions and credits my life events plausibly trigger, each with: what it is in one sentence, a rough eligibility test, and the note "verify with your CPA or IRS.gov — rules and limits change". C) CPA QUESTIONS — 8 specific questions from my situation, ranked by likely dollar impact, so a 30-minute preparer meeting earns its fee. D) NEXT-YEAR SETUP — 3 moves to make before December (labeled "general practice — confirm for your situation"). Inputs: [FILING STATUS + STATE(S) LIVED/WORKED IN] · [INCOME TYPES: W-2 / 1099 / RSU / RENTAL / SIDE INCOME] · [LIFE EVENTS THIS YEAR: MOVED, MARRIED, SOLD STOCK, HOME OFFICE, NEW CHILD] · [LAST YEAR'S SURPRISES] Rules: Do not invent tax rules, brackets, or dollar limits — wherever a current-year figure matters, write "verify current-year figure on IRS.gov". This is educational organization, not tax advice — a licensed professional makes the calls. Never include SSNs or account numbers.
Why this prompt works
The expensive part of tax season is the deduction you did not know to ask about. Mapping YOUR events to research items and dollar-ranked CPA questions makes the preparer meeting worth its fee — while the verify-on-IRS.gov rule keeps stale training data from filing your return.
Want the daily version?
The PromptSharp Personal Finance Brief delivers prompts like this every day. Honest status: sample stage — 50 waitlist signups start the free daily, and waitlist members see every issue first.
Frequently asked
When should I use this prompt?
Filing season. Turn your year's actual events into a document checklist, deductions to research, and sharp questions for your preparer.
Why does this prompt work?
The expensive part of tax season is the deduction you did not know to ask about. Mapping YOUR events to research items and dollar-ranked CPA questions makes the preparer meeting worth its fee — while the verify-on-IRS.gov rule keeps stale training data from filing your return.
What mistake does this prompt help you avoid?
{'code': 'PF02', 'note': "Stale training data filing your return — your year's events map to research items and CPA questions, with the verify-on-IRS.gov rule."}
Related Personal Finance prompts
Tax-doc organizer: get everything in order before you or your preparer starts
Tax season is coming and your documents are chaos. Build a checklist that catches the forms and deductions people usually forget —…
Financial independence snapshot: your number, your gap, your levers
Retirement feels abstract. Compute your FI number from actual spending, the gap at your savings rate, and which lever moves the da…
All Personal Finance free prompts
The PromptSharp Personal Finance Brief page — five full free prompts plus the ladder status.
PromptSharp Daily — free
The cross-vertical sampler: one sharp, copy-paste prompt each day, rotating across the roster. See what each vertical is like before you commit to one.
Double-opt-in. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, ever.
Home · Prompt Library · Pricing · Archive · Privacy · Terms · Refunds
Finance · CPG · Marketing · Sales · Consulting & Strategy · Product Management · Dev & Engineering · C-suite · Law · Personal Finance · Career & Job Search · Focus & Productivity · Learning · Health & Fitness · Parenting