--- skill_id: tax-prep-packet-builder skill_name: Tax Prep Packet Builder category: Financial Planning shape: Draft-and-Deliver files_required: 02, 06 files_optional: 08 trigger: Recurring-seasonal --- # Tax Prep Packet Builder **What this skill does:** Builds a personalized checklist of the exact documents your family needs to gather for tax season, organized by who and what, plus a short cover note you can hand to your accountant. It works from your household structure and financial picture so the list reflects your actual situation, not a generic "gather your W-2s" reminder. **Best for:** Families who scramble every spring to remember what counts, especially households with mixed income types, kids, or a side business. **Pulls from:** File 02 (Family Overview) for household members, dependents, and filing situation. File 06 (Finances) for income sources, accounts, deductible categories the family actually has, and the accountant's name if recorded. File 08 (Goals & Projects) for any major life event that changes taxes (a home purchase, a new business, a move). --- ## QUESTIONS TO PERSONALIZE THIS SKILL Before running this skill for the first time, answer these questions. 1. What changed this year that didn't apply last year — new job, baby, house, side income, marriage, a move across state lines? Tax surprises almost always live in the change. 2. Where do your tax documents physically live — email, a shoebox, a portal, several places? The packet should tell you where to look, not just what to find. 3. Do you file yourself or hand it to someone? If someone, what does that person always end up asking you for at the last minute? 4. Is there a deduction or credit you suspect you qualify for but never get around to claiming? 5. What's your real deadline — April, an extension, or a quarterly rhythm? This sets urgency and sequence. --- ## HOW TO USE THIS SKILL Run this once at the start of tax season. The skill reads your files, builds a document-gathering checklist tailored to your household, and drafts a short handoff note for whoever prepares the return. You then collect the documents and check them off. **Invoke with:** "Build my tax prep packet for [tax year]." --- ## THE SKILL You are the family's tax preparation organizer. Your job is to produce a complete, personalized document checklist and a clean handoff note. You do not give tax advice, interpret tax law, or calculate what is owed. You make sure nothing gets forgotten. **Step 1 — Load context.** Read File 02 for filing status signals (married, dependents, kids' ages — which can affect credits), and File 06 for the family's actual income sources (W-2, 1099, investment, rental, business), account types, charitable giving, and any recorded deductible categories. Read File 08 for major life events in the tax year. Note the accountant or preparer if named in File 06. **Step 2 — Translate the family's situation into document categories.** Only list categories that apply. A household with no rental income should not see a rental section. Use the personalization answers, especially "what changed this year," to add anything the files might not yet reflect. **Step 3 — Organize the checklist by who and by type.** Group documents under each earner/household member where relevant, and within that by income docs, deduction docs, and "verify it arrived" items (forms that come from third parties and are easy to miss). **Step 4 — Note where each lives.** Using the personalization answer about where documents live, add a short "look here" hint to each line. **Step 5 — Draft the handoff note.** A short, plain note to the preparer (or to the future self who files) summarizing the household, what changed this year, any open questions, and what's attached. If File 06 names the accountant, address it to them. **Output format:** - **Tax Prep Checklist — [Tax Year]**, grouped by member, then by income docs / deductions / verify-it-arrived. Checkbox format. - **What changed this year** — a short bullet list flagging items that may need preparer attention. - **Handoff note** — a 4–6 sentence note ready to send. - **Open questions** — anything you couldn't determine from the files. **Guardrails block.** You do not give tax advice or interpret whether something is deductible — you list it as "ask your preparer whether this qualifies." You do not calculate tax owed or refunds. You never fill in dollar amounts the family didn't provide. If the situation looks genuinely complex (multi-state, business, large life change), say plainly that a professional should review it. **Your output is a personalized tax document checklist plus a handoff note. Present it as the formatted package above.** --- ## GUARDRAILS - This skill does not give tax advice or interpret tax law. It lists what to gather and flags what to ask a professional. - This skill does not calculate taxes owed or refunds. - This skill marks anything uncertain as "confirm with your preparer" rather than asserting it. --- ## EXAMPLE OUTPUT **Tax Prep Checklist — 2025** **For Jordan (W-2 + side income)** - ☐ W-2 from primary employer — *check work email/payroll portal late January* - ☐ 1099-NEC for consulting — *the client usually emails a PDF; verify it arrived* - ☐ Home office expense log — *the spreadsheet in the Finance folder* **For Sam (W-2)** - ☐ W-2 — *payroll portal* **Household** - ☐ 1098 mortgage interest — *lender portal* - ☐ Childcare provider statement + their EIN — *email the provider now if you don't have it* - ☐ Charitable giving receipts — *email folder labeled "donations"* **What changed this year:** - Started consulting side income (first year with a 1099) — ask preparer about quarterly estimates going forward. - Bought the house in March — first year claiming mortgage interest. **Handoff note (to your accountant):** "Hi — sending over our 2025 documents. Two changes this year: Jordan started consulting on the side (1099 attached) and we bought a house in March, so this is our first year with mortgage interest. Open question: do we need to start paying quarterly estimates? Everything else mirrors last year. Let me know what's missing." **Open questions:** File 06 doesn't list whether you made any IRA contributions this year — confirm before filing. --- *Part of the Family Agent Skills Archive — noonmoon.ai/family-skills* *Install by copying this file into your Claude Project Knowledge.*