How many years should I hang onto my tax records before tossing them?

I've been hoarding all my tax paperwork since like 2014 and my file cabinet is seriously bursting at this point. I've got every single W-2, 1098, and 1095 form from jobs and stuff that I needed to file my taxes for the last decade-ish. My husband says I'm being ridiculous and we should just scan everything and toss it, but I'm paranoid about getting audited or something. At what point is it actually safe to start throwing these papers away? Do I really need to keep all these documents from 10+ years ago? The IRS website seems kinda vague about it and I've heard different things from friends. Just wanna declutter without screwing myself over with the tax people! Any advice?

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22 comments

Jean Claude

•8M

Tax professional here! The general IRS rule is to keep your tax records for at least 3 years from the date you filed the return. This is because the IRS typically has 3 years to assess additional tax or audit your return. However, there are some important exceptions. If you underreported your income by more than 25%, the IRS has 6 years to audit you. And if you filed a fraudulent return or didn't file at all, there's no statute of limitations - they can come after you anytime. For most everyday taxpayers with straightforward situations, 7 years is a good conservative rule of thumb that covers most scenarios. You can definitely toss those 10+ year old documents unless you have special circumstances like unclaimed losses or business assets.

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Jean Claude

•8M

For property records, you should keep those documents much longer - until at least 3 years after you sell the property. This includes your closing documents, records of home improvements, and anything related to calculating your basis in the property. When you eventually sell your home, you'll need to determine your adjusted basis to calculate capital gains, which can be reduced by qualifying home improvements. So those improvement receipts from 2017 could save you money years down the road.

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Josef Tearle

•8M

It organizes everything automatically once you scan and upload. You just feed documents through your scanner (or take pics with your phone) and the AI recognizes what they are - W-2s, 1098s, property tax receipts, etc. Then it puts them in the right categories and builds a searchable database. So much easier than trying to sort it all yourself. They use bank-level encryption and don't store your full SSN or other sensitive data. Everything's secured with 2-factor authentication, and they're SOC 2 compliant which means they've been audited for security practices. I was skeptical at first too but researched their security pretty thoroughly before uploading anything.

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Salim Nasir

•8M

If you need to get clarification directly from the IRS, good luck getting someone on the phone. I spent 3 hours on hold last month trying to ask a question about record retention for my small business. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they basically got me connected to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it's like having a fast pass to skip the IRS hold line. The agent I spoke with confirmed I only needed to keep most records for 7 years, but business asset records needed to be kept until 3 years after the asset is disposed of.

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Salim Nasir

•8M

It uses a system that continually redials and navigates the IRS phone tree until it gets through, then it calls you to connect. Basically does the waiting for you. When your turn comes up, your phone rings and you're connected to the next available IRS agent. I was skeptical too! But it actually works. They don't give any tax advice themselves - they literally just connect you directly to an actual IRS employee. I spent like 45 minutes talking to a real IRS agent getting answers specific to my situation about record retention for business assets. Way better than generic online advice since every tax situation is different.

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Quinn Herbert

•8M

I stand completely corrected about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I've been trying to reach the IRS about a missing refund for WEEKS. Got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes yesterday. They found my refund was flagged for review and helped me resolve it on the spot. I asked about tax record retention too and got clear answers about my specific situation. For what it's worth, she told me 7 years is generally fine for most documents unless you have special situations.

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Laila Fury

•8M

You know what, I might have misunderstood what he told me. I think what happened was he got audited 2 years ago for a return from 6 years prior. He filed an extension that year so it was just within their window. He didn't commit fraud or anything, just honestly forgot to include like $2000 of income from a side gig. Still, the whole thing makes me nervous about tossing anything. Storage is cheap these days though - I'm just going to scan everything and keep digital copies forever.

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Yuki Tanaka

•2M

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through an actual IRS audit last year. I kept 7 years of records and it was MORE than enough. The audit was for my 2021 return (filed in 2022) and they only asked for documents from that specific tax year - nothing older. The auditor told me that unless there's suspected fraud or you drastically underreported income (like 25%+ missing), they rarely need to go back further than the return they're examining. Most audits are triggered by specific items on a particular return, not patterns across multiple years. That said, definitely keep property records until you sell + 3 years like others mentioned. I still have my house purchase docs from 2019 and all improvement receipts because those will matter when I eventually sell. But for regular W-2s, 1099s, and basic tax documents? 7 years has been perfectly fine in my experience.

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