I am ready to dejunk our house so our kids don't have to. I have read 3 years 7 years? What says you Texags?

Since 1995. But all in scanned or digital format. I don't keep paper anymore.

7 years

IRS policy is to try to initiate within two years of a filing. Generally speaking they have three years to initiate an audit, however they can go back up to 6 years if they see irregularities. That's why most people should keep 7 years of tax returns and financial records on file.

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2017-august/irs-can-audit-for-three-years/

There is no statute of limitations for fraud, though.

We got them back to 2004. You can never tell when some deduction will come in handy.

the answer is it depends.

For most basic W-2 income earners 3 years is all you need. IRS has 3 years from the date you file a tax return to assess tax unless you agree to an extension beyond 3 years. If you have carryovers of credits, losses etc. keep it for longer. Many tax firms use 7 years for their client's records.

Fraud and not filing a tax return both have no statute of limitations.

you can also get account and return transcripts online from the IRS that show what they have on file. But that won't have the records you use to support the data you put on a tax return.

if you have to file state returns, I'd say most are 3-4 years.

Personally, i do not destroy my tax returns and related records. anything that supports the basis of item as well should not be destroyed - stocks, bonds, home improvements, rental real estate, etc. that all can have multiyear considerations.

7 years is the standard answer

However if you have a business or rental property I would really suggest just keeping copies of them forever, honestly.


And if you buy real estate (including your personal home) you need to have a folder where you keep copies of your purchase paperwork (HUD-1 statement for example) along with copies of all improvements that have been done to the property since you purchased it. Because of real estate value inflation, that $250k/$500k gain exclusion is not covering everyone when they sale their main home.

MouthBQ98 said:

---

7 years.

---

This

Never heard of 7 years. For nearly everyone, 3 years is right. The 6 year statute of limitations is for an understatement of income of 25% or more. Over 32 years and around 11,000 returns, never had the 6 year statute come up, 3 years was always the applicable deal.

If there is anything impacting a return that comes from the past, you can still need to provide support. For example, if you bought a commercial building 25 years ago and you are still deducting depreciation on that building, you could have to provide proof of your basis of that building. Don't need that 25 year old tax return, but the settlement statement and any costs over and above those shown thereon would be needed.

And it isn't the tax return itself so much as the underlying documents that you need in case of an audit, the IRS has the return, just not the support. And those documents typically take up much more room that the actual return itself.

Something I ran into more than a few times involves casualty losses (fire, hurricane, etc.). When you toss old tax records (bank statements, receipts, etc.) for a tax year, you will be tossing many things that do not have any tax implications, but could be a source for filing an insurance claim. Not only proof of what you paid for something, but a reminder of what things you lost but did not initially think of. This came into play when the loss was pretty much total, everything gone. Of course, you have to store those records somewhere other than the house, or in something fireproof. I will never forget this one gal who had damage from a flood. As I recall, she was able to prove up like $164,000 for contents, and nothing she had was what I would call pricey (no $10,000 shotguns or artwork). In fact, her contents were a lot more than they had originally paid for the house.

I checked and I actually have the documentation for each filing still stored in a file box going back to my first filing after graduation in 2000. I don't need it but it is interesting to see.

nice try, fed

I have the returns, but not the backup, to 1962. I have the backup for 7 years.

I have all mine dating back to 2012, when we moved to our current house.