How Long Do I Need to Keep My Tax Records?

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retired woman taxes
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For some, it may be four years!

It may happen that you fall into the four-year category for keeping your tax records, and that is because if you are recently retired, you will have to maintain the employment tax records for a longer period of time. Generally speaking, you should be keeping the employment records when it comes to taxes for at least four years after the due date of the taxes or since you have paid them, whichever one is the later one if you have got an extension.

You should be keeping these records together with your employment papers, as they may come in handy when calculating certain sums and checking the tax status. So if you’ve recently retired, make sure you hold onto these papers for another few years.

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16 Responses

  1. I print out of my Taxes as filed. I typically use TurboTax and while they are saved in a TurboTax format, they should also be saved as a pdf which make them much easier to read/refer to. Each version of Turbotax seems to be unique, so it you wanted to read your taxes from 5 years ago, you would need to have that year version of TT installed making a pdf easier to review. Then I put the software used to do my taxes with a CD of my taxes return in the manilla envelope, mark the year on the outside and put the envelope in the box. I can usually get at least 2 envelope’s in each box. I also write the years of the taxes inside on the box with a magic marker.

    1. I do my taxes with turbo, But I thought they save them for you in case you need them ! How do you get software so you can print and put on a cd ?

      Thank you for the info👍

  2. After 10 years of keeping old tax records, I throw out the old records, and keep the new ones for ten years.

    1. Be sure to shred the old records & not just throw them out, as they contain your Social Security numbers & other info that thieves would love to have — but you probably know that anyways.

    1. Where is the information you loved? I am unable to find any specific information about what to keep and for how long.

  3. Actually not enough information here to know what to keep and how long? What are the details to know how long one should keep tax returns and which ones?

  4. You did not leave a more definite timeline? You just said what some people do. that was NO HELP.

  5. we were told 4 years..anything before that shredd them…we saved all of them took us days to shredd them all except the last 4 years everything else got shredded..

  6. Working for CPA firms for decades, it was the Company’s policy to store client’s tax returns and backup paperwork (on site) for 7 years unless you’ve been audited by either the Feds or the State. If audited, we stored their returns and back up paperwork (on site) forever

  7. Hello. I have heard numerous different words on this very topic. As a rule of thumb,

    may I suggest Seven years. However may I suggest that you ask a lawyer to be sure.

    Your circumstance may vary. A good piece of advise always check it out. You see, to

    be truthful, it’s better to be safe and free. Don’t you agree???

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