How to select a tax year

Why Tax Years Matter

Everything in FileJoy is organized by tax year. Your income, deductions, credits, and documents all belong to a specific year. Before you start entering anything, make sure you're working in the right year.

Creating a New Tax Year

1. Click the **tax year dropdown** at the top of your dashboard
2. Select **New Tax Year**
3. Choose the year you'd like to file for (e.g., 2025)
4. FileJoy will copy your household members from the previous year automatically

That's it—you're ready to start entering information for that year.

Switching Between Years

If you've created multiple tax years, switching is simple:

1. Click the **tax year dropdown** at the top of any page
2. Select the year you want to view or edit
3. The entire app updates to show that year's data

All your data is saved when you switch—nothing gets lost.

Tax Year Status

Each tax year shows a status badge:

• **In Progress** — You're still working on this return
• **Prepared** — This return has been finalized and is ready to file with the IRS

Prepared returns are read-only. You can view and download them, but you can't edit them. If you need to make changes to a prepared return, you'll need to create an amendment.

Deleting a Tax Year

If you created a tax year by accident or no longer need it:

1. Go to **Settings** in the sidebar
2. Select the tax year you want to remove
3. Click **Delete Tax Year**

Warning: Deleting a tax year permanently removes all data associated with it—income, deductions, documents, everything. This action cannot be undone.