Do you really only keep 7 years tax returns?

[badatmath]

I was on a shredding binge today where I found that apparently I never do any . . . Had the purchase papers from a car I bought in 1995. . . .

Taxes are next. . . Do I really only need 7 years? Do I ditch the 1099s then too? I probably have at least 20 years. . . Somehow they are hardest of the papers to get rid of.

 

[NanoSour]

It's a sickness...I have my tax returns back to the early 80's

Been CP2000 audited 3 times.

 

[Out_the_Door]

in the first half of the 2000s I moved 10 times in ten years and no paperwork ever made the move with me. I've now been in my current place seven years and I don't have any receipts, 1099s, tax returns etc., older than three years. But to be fair I live by myself and no kids nor have complicated taxes so being audited is not something I worry about.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Given the power of the IRS, I keep all of my tax returns (at least starting the last two decades). I see it as an almost existential risk not to do so. I'm not saying that I have any problems...I am in fact squeaky clean...I just worry about being defenseless if something ever came up and a false assertion were made. It's just space in our building's basement storage area.

-BB

 

[statsman]

Everything back to 1982. I've seen what the government can do when it decides to not play nice. Having security clearances for 30 years and seeing the back workings of government was an additional eye-opener for sure.

Two mail audits, both ending in our favor.

 

[skipro33]

I never keep hard copies since doing taxes via software.

 

[RobbieB]

I shredded all but seven a while ago. But I don't remember when that was. Probably after I retired. I'm sure I can start lighting the fireplace with a few years worth.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I have mine all the way back to '79.

Never been audited because I'm a rule follower not a rule breaker.

 

[tulak]

I have scanned copies of all my returns and supporting docs for 20+ years. No reason not to keep them since they don’t take any physical space.

 

[gauss]

Gosh no. Especially if you own any type of property that has tax consequences (ie IRA's, real estate etc).

The IRS says that you need to keep your records until you have disposed of the property -- even if it is more than 7 years.

-gauss

 

[Koolau]

Can't recall the last time I got rid of any old tax returns. I hope I never need them, but, you never know. YMMV

 

[W2R]

I shredded all but seven a while ago. But I don't remember when that was. Probably after I retired. I'm sure I can start lighting the fireplace with a few years worth.

+1

I got fed up and shredded all but seven a few years ago. I am sure there are reasons why I shouldn't have done that, but at that particular moment I didn't actually care.

 

[Montecfo]

I have all mine I ever filed. But all you really need is 7 years, plus records to support the basis in real estate owned, any IRAs you have basis in, and needed support for future HSA withdrawals.

 

[Ronstar]

I have scanned pdf's of all of my tax returns since 1979.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I recently shredded all but last 7 years. Only some old IRA basis forms remain.

Real property records are different. I keep those showing basis for house, etc.

I have annual brokerage statements going back many years. Fortunately these are electronic now so don’t take additional space.

 

[teejayevans]

I thought the IRS can only audit you within 3 years?

 

[braumeister]

I keep them all as PDFs (with multiple backups). I scan all associated paperwork and file those PDFs with the return, one folder for each year. Every piece of paper goes through the shredder. It's trivial to print those old PDFs if I need to, so why bother keeping the originals?

 

[target2019]

Hard copies - 10 years.
Soft copies - forever.

Found a container with 2000-2004 financial data and taxes for in-laws. Just shredded.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought the IRS can only audit you within 3 years?

Yes, but if they find possible evidence of fraud, they can look back 7 years.

 

[Midpack]

I have mine back to 1977, but all in pdf form. I stopped keeping hard copies, and shredded what I had, years ago. Why do I need any hard copies?

 

[scrabbler1]

Until about 7 years ago, I was keeping complete folders of tax returns going back to 1985, my first year of filing tax returns. Seven years ago, I decided to purge any tax folder more than 5 years old of non-essential stuff such as tax booklets and anything else not directly related to my returns, leaving me with just the returns and direct supporting documents and worksheets. Doing this reduced the volume of contents in those folders by at least 2/3, freeing up considerable storage space in some boxes.

Since 2014, I have been doing my returns using the free fillable pdf files, so I have those stored electronically. This doesn't affect what I keep or discard in general, but it is handy whenever I have to look something up on a recent return.

 

[Aerides]

Keep only the age required by law, no longer. Keeping things longer is riskier than not.

For the average individual? Probably no big deal either way, but in my Mega we were just as focused on destroying/deleting as soon it was legal to do so, as we were on keeping stuff long enough.

Because if we were required to keep it for 7, but kept it for 10, and the auditor found we had stuff 10 years old he could still demand we turn it over.

 

[Jerry1]

Keeping records is proportional to the actual tax situation. If I had real estate rentals, I’d probably keep my records as long as I had the property. My taxes are very straightforward so I only keep 7 to 10 years in a pdf.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

One of my first projects after ER was to cull my old tax files. I have PDFs but I like to keep a hard copy of what was actually sent to IRS.

When I cleaned out my late father’s house I found his returns going back to the early 1950s, and that was just the tip of the iceberg of old papers. It was actually quite fun to see just how much the value of money has changed.

 

[RunningBum]

I keep hardcopy of the return, brokerage EOY statement, and W-2, mostly for my own interest. I got rid of all the other supporting docs beyond 7 years. I could easily scan and trash all of it but it doesn't even fill a box that sits on my closet shelf. When I eventually move I'll get rid of it, maybe after scanning. Or maybe I'll get on another purge kick some day, and scan and toss then.