How long should I keep my important tax documents ?
Answer:
The underlying rule is that you should keep documents such as receipts, cancelled checks and other income and expense items for three years from the date the return was due or filed, whichever is later.
There is no statute of limitations when a return is found fraudulent or when no return has been filed. The burden of proof of filing is unfortunately upon the taxpayer.
As a result, we recommend that records be saved as long as practical(at least ten years).
Some records should be kept indefinitely, such as property records, since when the property is sold, you will need to compute your gain or loss.
Also, you may not want to discard anything that refers to mutual funds and stocks that have capital gains or dividends reinvested, so you can prove your basis.
There is no statute of limitations when a return is found fraudulent or when no return has been filed. The burden of proof of filing is unfortunately upon the taxpayer.
As a result, we recommend that records be saved as long as practical(at least ten years).
Some records should be kept indefinitely, such as property records, since when the property is sold, you will need to compute your gain or loss.
Also, you may not want to discard anything that refers to mutual funds and stocks that have capital gains or dividends reinvested, so you can prove your basis.
