Scanning Tax Returns from the Good Old Days

[joesxm3]

I got inspired by the other thread and decided to attack the two boxes of old tax returns.

I am probably stupid to be even scanning the 1099-B forms instead of just shredding everything.

One item I started to worry about was forms related to IRA deposits. I will probably try to organize those and I have been separating the old W2 forms to maybe verify my social security earnings list.

But what drove me to make this post was I got to 2000 and 2001, the good old days, where I was working three or four programming jobs at a time and riding high on the dot com bubble. Until it popped and I racked up enough capital losses to last me for years.

I basically rode it up, then rode it down, working my butt off to replace my stock losses

 

[audreyh1]

I just kept the form for non-deductible contributions that I did for a few years* and got rid of the rest. Why scan whole returns?

*Turbotax has been tracking that stuff for me all along anyway.

I would look at my SS earnings record now and then, not that carefully but once I graduated from college I had only job at a time.

 

[Midpack]

One item I started to worry about was forms related to IRA deposits. I will probably try to organize those and I have been separating the old W2 forms to maybe verify my social security earnings list.

I didn’t keep good complete records of our non-deductible IRA contributions though I might have been able to reconstruct. What saved me was keeping (scanned in pdfs) all the form 8606’s along with all other forms each year - you’ll need that for Roth conversions and/or RMDs. For many years now I just save all the forms and worksheets TurboTax spits out every year, along with all my 1099s, charitable donations, etc. Scanned in all my pre TT forms long ago, back to 1977.

 

[marko]

Color me confused. You only need seven years for the IRS and your broker/IRA/Administrator keeps them for that long as well.

Why go back 25 years?

 

[audreyh1]

There are some docs you need longer for IRAs.

 

[marko]

There are some docs you need longer for IRAs.

I did not know that, but....what forms might they be?

 

[audreyh1]

Form 8606 for non-deductible (after tax) IRA contributions. You don’t have to keep the whole return.

TurboTax tracks this but you also need to use it continually and make sure it’s carrying over. So it’s good to keep a copy of the last form 8606 you filed just in case.

Looks like joesmx3 is also reviewing his SS earnings to check against the record.

 

[RetMD21]

I scanned the old taxes going all the way back. IDK why I would ever need them but it made me comfortable with shredding. Now I try to do electronic delivery when possible. If not I scan and shred.

 

[Gumby]

I have a paper copy of every tax return I have ever filed, going back to tax year 1977. They take up less than one banker's box, so I don't see a compelling need to digitize them.

 

[joesxm3]

I think I have every tax return since 1984. Not a complete set since I started post-college work in 1978, but close enough. So I must have all my 8606 forms.

I have been using Turbo Tax for six or seven years so I am ok filling out the ROTH conversion forms and have backups of all the TT files as well as the printed review copy of the returns.

I guess I worried that somehow I might be challenged to prove I actually made the IRA contributions, but I suppose the broker records would be good enough for the IRS.

One time a credit report web site demanded that I answer my address from 1985. I had to go back to the tax return to remember the rental house I lived in for a year or two.

 

[Cobra9777]

I keep paper copies for 7 years (returns, plus all original supporting docs). Older than that, I shred everything. I have TurboTax files on the PC dating back to 1997. I've never once had a need to open any of those old returns. No non-deductible IRA contributions to track.

I do keep a rather large box of medical receipts dating back to 2008. These are to support HSA distributions at some point in the future. I've thought about scanning them, but that would be way too much work.

 

[imjustawarrior]

I do keep a rather large box of medical receipts dating back to 2008. These are to support HSA distributions at some point in the future. I've thought about scanning them, but that would be way too much work.

Last year I sat down and scanned in all my receipts. I used the Onedrive app on my phone. It was really quick and easy. I think I did about 200 while sitting in my recliner. I decided to throw out any thing below a certain dollar amount. Also, if the receipt was pretty beat up and not much money, I threw it away. I then entered everything into a spreadsheet.

Now I scan and throw away as they come in. I try to get digital receipts if possible.

 

[Ronstar]

I have tax returns scanned back to 1974, but only have supporting documentation scanned back to around 2005. It’s easy to scan in bulk with the right scanner and software. I started scanning all personal docs more than 20 years ago when I also scanned all work docs. The scanned work docs made it easy to work remotely. And I could access all scanned personal docs whether at home or snowbirding. Takes me about as long to scan docs as it used to take filing them. And scanned docs are a lot more organized at least for me.

 

[aja8888]

I shredded all my old tax returns going back to 1973. No need to keep them and I only keep 7 years worth now. I'm making my daughter's future job easier by getting rid of useless stuff.

 

[Cobra9777]

Last year I sat down and scanned in all my receipts. I used the Onedrive app on my phone. It was really quick and easy. I think I did about 200 while sitting in my recliner. I decided to throw out any thing below a certain dollar amount. Also, if the receipt was pretty beat up and not much money, I threw it away. I then entered everything into a spreadsheet.

Now I scan and throw away as they come in. I try to get digital receipts if possible.

I log mine in Excel before they go into the box. There are 442 records in Excel. Just sounds like too much work for too little gain.

I keep the receipts in the same order in the box as they are in Excel. So if I make a $10K withdrawal, the plan is to use Excel to find the oldest group of receipts that adds up to $10K. I would then retrieve the corresponding physical receipts and put them in the file with that year's tax return. Granted, it's still a ridiculous amount of paper.

If I scanned them, I'd need to replicate my physical ordering system with a file naming convention that links to each Excel record. I'm sure I could come up with something. It's just a little overwhelming thinking about scanning 442 documents, most of which consist of a medical invoice (sometimes multiple pages) with a mangled credit card receipt stapled to it. So... not very amenable to any type of automated bulk scanning.

This is just going to have to be my one "old school" thing I still do.

 

[joesxm3]

One advantage to scanning is I discovered that some old receipts faded and could not be read.

 

[pacergal]

Same as aja8888--keep 7 years, shred everything else. Except I have bank checkbook registers going back several years, haven't gotten around to shredding those.

 

[Midpack]

Same as aja8888--keep 7 years, shred everything else. Except I have bank checkbook registers going back several years, haven't gotten around to shredding those.

I don't see any reason to keep any paper records, I haven't printed out a return in a many years, saved as pdfs at time of filing. I used to print my state return to send them, but never kept a hard copy myself - now I eFile state and Fed. And I don't see any reason to delete pdfs from prior years, that's why I have every return back to 1977 - they're just small pdf files on my HD.

I did NEED my old 8606s, turned out to be the best documentation of non-deductible tIRA contributions (way more than 7 years back) once I started Roth conversions and RMDs once they start. If I'd shredded older returns I'd have been out of luck...

 

[audreyh1]

I think I have every tax return since 1984. Not a complete set since I started post-college work in 1978, but close enough. So I must have all my 8606 forms.

I have been using Turbo Tax for six or seven years so I am ok filling out the ROTH conversion forms and have backups of all the TT files as well as the printed review copy of the returns.

I guess I worried that somehow I might be challenged to prove I actually made the IRA contributions, but I suppose the broker records would be good enough for the IRS.

One time a credit report web site demanded that I answer my address from 1985. I had to go back to the tax return to remember the rental house I lived in for a year or two.

I believe you really just need to keep the last 8606 as they are cumulative. Always good to double check.

Yeah, for credit checks having a file with all your old addresses, mortgages, cars, etc. is a good way to do it. You don’t need the tax returns.

 

[joesxm3]

While I was scanning a form 8606 I noticed a section on the back "what records must I keep?"

Form 8086
Page 1 of form 1040 for each year you made a non-deductible contribution.
Form 5498 or similar showing contributions made
Form 5498 showing value of IRA for each year you received a distribution.
Form 1099-R and W-2P for each year you received a distribution.

 

[Car-Guy]

I keep 3 years worth tax returns and supporting documentation. After that they are destroyed.

 

[jim584672]

PDFs don't take that much space, really no need to delete anything.

 

[joesxm3]

This scanning is a trip down memory lane.

1996 where my friend talked me into a contract programming job up near Boston. I had to live in a cheap motel for 14 months and drive home and back on Wednesday night to feed the cats.

One day there was a snow storm. My friend insisted that I attend a very important meeting. I drove two hours and when I got there he said that the meeting was cancelled because they were all going home. Driving back, I kid you not, there was six inches of snow (ok maybe four) on the major highway. Luckily I had a Honda Prelude with four new snow tires.

1995 when I was the kid programmer with a 15% share in a small software company. I did all the work and the three adult owners had 85% because they put up seed money. One week they could not make payroll so I loaned them $25,000. Halfway through paying me back one who was an insurance company VP tried to not pay me back using the excuse that they had put in real money and all I had contributed was working 50 hours a week at night after my real job for free to write the software product they were selling. Luckily the other guy called BS on stuffing me.

No way I would have the energy or the gullibility to do that now.

Wild times back then. But at least I was able to pay off the 9.125% mortgage on my house in seven years. Mostly due to my contract programming work after I told my "business partners" to stuff it.

 

[Dtail]

I keep 7 years plus the tax year for the real estate purchase.

 

[RetMD21]

That's a great story!

I got a SnapScan and emptied a file cabinet. It went pretty fast.