Tax Tip: Getting Your Paperwork Ready

— -- Tax season is officially underway. However, before you get started on your return, it's important to prepare and make sure you have everything you need.

Kathy Pickering, executive director of the Tax Institute at H&R Block, advises tax filers to take a step back before they begin.

"One of the best ways to make sure that you've got everything that you need is to look at last year's tax return," she said.

Once you've done that, double-check to make sure you have the forms you need.

"Your W2, your 1099s, your 1098s from the banks -- so, for example, when you have your mortgage payment -- that's all due from them by the end of January," notes Tom Wheelwright, founder of CPA firm ProVision.

If you're missing a form, Wheelwright said to pick up the phone and make some calls.

"If you don't get it by the first week of February I'd be calling back. I'd be calling the employer. I'd be calling HR, whomever," he said.

Pickering notes that there could also be ways to get all of your forms online.

"If you don't get them in the mail, then typically there’s ways that you can download them," she said.