For how long do you keep your income tax returns?

[question everything]

I am going through many old files and find some from as early as the 90s. Probably the 80s, someplace.

All hand written..

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I've always been told 7 years is enough.

[CountAllVotes]

2. from thebalance.com ...

How Long Is Long Enough?

Generally speaking, tax returns and related documents should be retained for at least as long as the IRS or a state taxing authority is permitted to audit that return. This period of time is referred to as the statute of limitations. It's three years from the date the tax return was actually filed for federal returns, or three years from the April 15 deadline if the return was filed before the deadline.

Each state has its own statute of limitations on audits. Many states follow the federal time period of three years, but others have longer time periods.

For example, Montana has a five year time period for audits.

https://www.thebalance.com/how-long-to-keep-tax-returns-3973943

*********

That said, I have mine going back to the mid-1980s. They are all in the same place, one huge envelope.

[PJMcK]

3. Seven years

When you discard the old ones, be certain to shred them.

My first thought when I read the OP was, "Is that Trump asking the question?" I'm sure there's lots of other evidence he's destroyed.

[Yonnie3]

4. It is required to keep them from three to seven years,

as well as supporting documents. The seven years is if you wrote off a bad debt or worthless security. The three years is from filing. Documents that establish a basis in assets that you still hold must be kept.

That said, you asked how long I keep them. I keep all of them. I've shredded the supporting documents from ones older than five years. I look through them occasionally and remember the good and bad jobs.

[rzemanfl]

5. Here a "b" to replace that "d." I will write it off.

[Yonnie3]

6. Dern bifocals

I always paid dad back.

Thanks

[rzemanfl]

7. I learned this week I have a fast growing cataract. Getting older sucks. n/t

[Yonnie3]

8. Boo

I hope it is treatable with dispatch and success.

I've been feeling that "getting older sucks" feeling lately. Walking has become painful for me. Different doctors have different ideas about this and I'm working through them. So far no change.

[question everything]

9. Spouse had a doctor - now retired - who once said: when you reach 70

things start to get interesting.

Boy was he right.

Walking is still OK. But colds tend to last longer. We stay home longer now that we hear that the flu is more dangerous. Even when vaccinated.

Had cataract last year. Told them to leave prescription the same, which is what Medicare pays, anyway.

Dumped the contact lenses and even though glasses do have gradient vision, a lot easier to remove them for close reading, as I am doing right now in front of my computer.

[rzemanfl]

12. I hit the big 70 last August. I celebrated by swimming a mile a day each day for ten days.

Then I got rained out.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Cataracts were the best thing that ever happened to my eyes.

I'd been extremely nearsighted all my life, wore glasses and contact lenses. Then cataracts took root and when I was 63 I had cataract surgery. No more contacts, just reading glasses. I open my eyes in the morning and I can see! I'm still not over the wonder of it.

So when your eye doctor says it's time for the surgery, do NOT hesitate. I believe it is by far the commonest surgery done in this country and is highly successful.

[rzemanfl]

15. I'm glad that worked out for you. I did not wear prescription glasses until after I went on

Medicare, so having to get an artificial part does not enthuse me. Thanks for your reassurance.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. You are very fortunate that you never needed prescription glasses.

Cataracts are incredibly common. I'm sure they're the main reason old people generally used to go blind. No longer.

Whenever you finally need the surgery, your vision should be restored back to what it was before.

The only thing that can make cataract surgery a bit iffy is if you've had radial keratotomy or any other surgery to correct vision. Apparently that surgery makes it a bit tricky to figure out exactly what kind of lens needs to be inserted when the cataract is removed. Sounds like you haven't had any such thing.

I was so very nearsighted that I used to joke that it was fortunate that my fingers and toes were attached, because I'd never been able to find them otherwise.

[rzemanfl]

17. I understand they don't recommend surgery until your vision can't be corrected to 20/50.

It is incredibly common surgery here in Florida. Thanks again.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. The surgery recommendation, as I understand it, is based on

the extent of the cataracts themselves. They can affect your vision in quite strange ways -- mine actually improved in some ways -- and eventually you can't see at all. They affect color vision and night vision quite a bit.

I had first been told I had cataracts about twenty-five years ago, but they did nothing much until all of a sudden, and then wham! I hadn't connected my vision changes to them, but when the eye doctor said I needed to get the surgery I did a bit of on-line research and what I was experiencing was classic.

Probably the very best thing with the modern cataract surgery is once they're removed, they won't come back. In the old days they didn't have the techniques to remove the cataracts completely, so they could grow back. Not any more. Of course, other things could happen to your eyes but I just don't worry about such things.

[rzemanfl]

19. Thanks, and to keep with the thread I retain tax records seven years.

[question everything]

10. Thanks. Yes, supported documents were shredded long time ago

but I think it is time to get rid of the rest.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. I have them back to 1977.

[progree]

13. It depends -- basis of property? As long as you own it. Form 8606? Until death do you part

How Long to Keep Tax Records
By Kimberly Lankford, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
January 3, 2008
https://www.kiplinger.com/article/taxes/T056-C001-S001-how-long-to-keep-tax-records.html

...

Keep receipts for major home improvements until you sell the house. You may want to show potential buyers how much you've spent, and you can use certain home-improvement expenses to lower any tax bill you might have on your home-sale profits. (You generally won't be taxed when you sell your house, unless you have lived in it for less than two years, if you rented out part of it, or if you sold it for more than $250,000 in profit if single or $500,000 if married). For more information, see Taxes and Home-Sale Profits and Finding Your Home's Tax Basis.

It's also a good time of year to get rid of some other records. You generally can toss your monthly investment statements when your year-end statements arrive, as long as everything matches up with the year-end report. ((And assuming the year-end reports show the costs of all purchases made during the year, which mine don't -- Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab. So you have the cost basis information when you sell them. And don't forget -- those automatic distribution reinvestments are part of your cost basis-- Progree))

You should, however, keep records showing what you originally paid for mutual funds and stocks until you sell them You'll need the information when you report the gain or loss on your taxes.

Also hold on to year-end statements showing how much you received in dividends or capital-gains distributions, so you won't end up paying taxes on them twice if you reinvest that money. ((and make sure the year-end statement shows that, mine don't, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. You need a statement/statements showing what you paid for every freaking share you own, regardless of how it was acquired. So I have to keep the monthly statements. -Progree))

And keep any Form 8606 tax records reporting nondeductible traditional IRA contributions, so you won't end up overpaying your tax bill when you start to take out the money in retirement. See Keep Only Key Retirement Account Forms for more information. ((Yup -- my tax preparer asked for them all, going back to when I made my first non-deductible contribution almost 2 decades before -- Progree))

Here's a couple lengthier ones:

# How to purge your financial clutter, By Liz Weston, MSN Money, 3/11/2011
http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/how-to-purge-your-financial-clutter-weston.aspx
(URL doesn't work, I didn't take the time to hunt it down, might try archive.org)
Later:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110314015345/http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/how-to-purge-your-financial-clutter-weston.aspx

# Conquer the paper piles, What documents to keep, what you can toss—and when. Last reviewed: March 2010, ConsumerReports.org
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/personal-investing/conquer-the-paper-piles/overview/
(URL doesn't work, I didn't take the time to hunt it down, might try archive.org)

On Edit 1/12 625p ET:
# I don't have automatic reinvestment in my taxable accounts. It just goes to the settlement money market fund, and when that gets large enough that I worry about it not getting any return, then I decide where to invest it

# I have automatic reinvestment in my IRAs (and 401k's if I had any) because cost basis doesn't matter in IRAs or 401k's.

# My tax preparer gets plenty of people who don't have the records on automatic reinvestments. He uses some website (I don't remember which, but finance.yahoo.com will do) that shows all the fund distributions, so he uses that. But I'm sure it's time-consuming for him and I'm sure not cheap for the client.