Can you complete your 2025 tax return?
Posted on January 23, 2026

I had a very good picture of our 2025 tax return by January 10 this year. I think you can get a very good picture of your return in about an hour. I’m actually looking forward to completing our return this year!!!

1) I made a simpler, clearer template of the 1040 for 2025 as compared to one I provided before. I show lines of the return as they appear on the 1040. Here it is for married, joint filers and for single filer. (I think I’m accurate on the calculations, but no guarantees!)

2) I made a list of where I get all the input for all the lines. I can get most that we need for an early look from our 12-31-25 brokerage statement. Our final tax reporting document (due tomorrow) is going to agree with it, but it will have some added detail. One detail is Section 194 dividends that determines the QBI deduction for line 13a of our 1040.  

I think you can complete your spreadsheet in less than an hour if you are familiar with your brokerage statements. My task may be easier that yours: we don’t itemize deductions (Schedule A). I really don’t need to track those expenses for our tax return. I do track them out of habit, however.

My estimate says we will owe about $450 in taxes before April 15 this year. I need that estimate of taxes due (or refund), since, as I recall, that’s about the only way to track if I’ve been accurate and complete as I progress through TurboTax.

Conclusion: I prepared two spreadsheet that display the lines on 1040 for 2025: one for married, joint filers and one for single filer. I can fill it out and get very close to what our 1040 should look like well before I get our final consolidated tax return from Fidelity. I provide the list that tells me where and when I can get the information I need. Most is from our year end brokerage statement.